A social media post alleging that former Rep. Liz Cheney’s husband filed for divorce over an affair involving Rep. Jamie Raskin circulated online Saturday, but the explosive claims do not appear to be supported by credible public evidence.
The post, published by the X account AmericanYankee, claimed Cheney’s husband, attorney Philip Perry, had filed for divorce after details emerged about a supposed relationship between Cheney and Raskin.
The account further alleged that the purported relationship developed while Cheney and Raskin served together on the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol protest.
No evidence substantiating those allegations was included in the post.
A review of available reporting did not uncover credible confirmation that Perry has filed for divorce from Cheney or that Cheney and Raskin engaged in an affair.
People previously reported that Cheney and Perry married in 1993 and have five children together. Perry, an attorney, has held several senior government positions and has worked as a partner at the law firm Latham & Watkins.
Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, represented Wyoming in the House from 2017 until 2023.
She emerged as one of President Donald Trump’s most prominent Republican critics following the 2020 presidential election and later served as vice chair of the House Jan. 6 committee.
Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, also served on the panel.
The two lawmakers worked extensively together during the committee’s investigation, which included public hearings, witness interviews and efforts to examine the circumstances surrounding the Capitol riot.
Their professional relationship was publicly documented throughout the committee’s work.
A 2022 New Republic profile described Cheney and Raskin as having grown close while serving on the committee, but the article discussed their political and professional relationship and did not report a romantic affair.
Raskin publicly praised Cheney during the investigation, describing her as a “constitutional patriot” and emphasizing the bipartisan nature of the committee’s work.
Other reports from the period documented the two lawmakers appearing alongside each other during hearings and congressional proceedings.
The viral X post also claimed Cheney and Raskin deliberately formed the committee to conceal a relationship between them.
That allegation conflicts with the documented creation of the panel.
The House established the select committee in 2021 to investigate the Jan. 6 protest and circumstances surrounding it. Cheney subsequently became one of two Republicans serving on the committee and was selected as its vice chair.
Raskin was one of several Democratic members.
The social media post also made claims about Cheney’s personal wealth and suggested Raskin was experiencing unspecified marital difficulties.
No documentation supporting those assertions was supplied.
As of Saturday, reliable national news organizations had not reported that Cheney and Perry were divorcing because of Raskin, nor had credible evidence surfaced publicly establishing an affair between the former congressional colleagues.
The post nevertheless illustrates how dramatic allegations concerning prominent political figures can spread rapidly on social media before the underlying claims have been independently verified.
