Pelosi slams GOP leadership's moves against Liz Cheney
06 May 2021
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi this week condemned Republican efforts to oust Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) as House GOP conference chair.
Why it matters: A number of Democrats have spoken out against attempts to punish Cheney for her criticism of former President Trump, framing the discussion as one essential to the maintenance of American democracy.
What they're saying: Pelosi said the GOP is, "punishing Members who tell the truth" about Trump's election loss and his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, per a statement posted to her website.
- "Nothing less is at stake than out democracy," Pelosi said in an interview with PBS on Wednesday.
- "Maybe she's more, shall we say, compliant," Pelosi said in reference to Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), who has been floated as Cheney's replacement as House Republican conference chair.
- Pelosi praised Cheney for her courage in speaking out.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) also waded into the debate on Thursday, tweeting that Cheney will likely lose her leadership position for the crime of "acknowledging the reality that Trump lost the election."
- "The Republican Party is no longer a 'conservative' party. It is an anti-democratic cult pushing the Big Lie and conspiracy theories," Sanders added.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.