Arizona AG opens criminal investigation in Donald Trump's comments on Liz Cheney

Mayes confirmed that her office’s criminal division is analyzing the statement.

PUBLISHED NOV 2, 2024

Trump’s campaign dismissed the investigation.

Phoenix, Arizona: Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes has launched an investigation into comments made by former President Donald Trump at a recent Glendale event. Mayes is examining whether Trump’s statements about former Congresswoman Liz Cheney constitute a death threat under Arizona law.

During an appearance with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Trump took aim at Cheney, a prominent critic, with comments that included violent imagery. “She’s a radical war hawk. Let’s put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her. Ok. Let’s see how she feels about it… when the guns are trained on her face,” he said.

Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Fiserv Forum, on November 01, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Mayes confirmed on 12 News's Sunday Square Off that her office’s criminal division is analyzing the statement to determine whether it meets the criteria for a death threat.

“I have already asked my criminal division chiefs to start looking at that statement,” she stated. “It is the kind of thing that riles people up and makes our situation in Arizona and other states more dangerous,” Mayes said.

Democratic presidential nominee, US Vice President Kamala Harris fields questions during a town hall style campaign event with former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) on October 21, 2024 in Brookfield, Wisconsin. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Trump’s campaign dismissed the investigation as “a desperate attempt to help out Kamala Harris’ failing campaign". Trump supporters echoed these sentiments, accusing Mayes of “lawfare” and standing firmly by the former president.

In a post on social media, Cheney said: "This is how dictators destroy free nations. They threaten those who speak against them with death. We cannot entrust our country and our freedom to a petty, vindictive, cruel, unstable man who wants to be a tyrant."