Cheney releases concession call audio in tit-for-tat with her primary foe

After Donald Trump-backed Harriet Hageman claimed Wednesday night that Rep. Liz Cheney never fully conceded their Wyoming GOP primary race, the defeated incumbent released her receipts.

Hageman told Fox News that Cheney had “left a very brief two-second message on my cell phone” Tuesday night, without addressing “any kind of concession or anything else.” According to audio provided by the Cheney campaign to POLITICO, however, Cheney called Hageman to concede the race at 8:13 p.m. on Tuesday night.

Audible in the recording is an aide notifying Cheney that the Associated Press had just called the race for her opponent.

“Hi, Harriet, it is Liz Cheney calling,” Cheney is heard saying in the audio. “It is about 8:13 on Tuesday the 16th, I’m calling to concede the election and congratulate you on the win. Thanks.”

The recording contradicts the narrative Hageman offered host Sean Hannity on Wednesday about Cheney’s call on primary night.

“I haven’t had any other contact with Liz Cheney. She made the one effort and all she said was ‘Hello, Harriet.’ And then that was the end of it,” Hageman said. When Hannity sought to clarify that she was alleging Cheney had “just said ‘Hello, Harriet’ and then hung up,” Hageman reiterated: “That was the end of the call, yes.”

After publication of the Cheney campaign’s recording, a Hageman spokesperson provided a video of their own. It shows a phone ostensibly belonging to Hageman playing a message identified as coming from Cheney’s number. The message as played on-screen contains only Cheney’s two-word greeting before sound cuts off for more than 10 more seconds.

In an interview with POLITICO on Wednesday, Cheney said she had tried to call Hageman three times, but ultimately left a voicemail before she took the stage at her election night party. Cheney added that she never heard back from Hageman.

As a separate response to Cheney’s own narrative, a Hageman spokesperson released a second video that shows the GOP nominee’s call log from Tuesday night. It includes only one message directly from Cheney, though they said Hageman’s team received other communications from elsewhere in the defeated incumbent’s campaign.

The Cheney campaign’s release of the audio recording after Hageman appeared on Fox News comes as the defeated Trump critic prepares to expend significant resources to prevent him from returning to the White House, including the launch of a new outside group.