Harriet Hageman Goes From Anti-Trump Plotter to His Champion vs. Liz Cheney

Former President Donald J. Trump is starring an all-out warfare against Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming due to the fact that of her perceived deficiency of loyalty: After voting to impeach him, she became the dependable of Republican opposition to his effort to overturn the 2020 election.

But his prime to regenerate her, Harriet Hageman, was not ever a loyal worker herself. She was portion of the last Republican absorption to his ascent successful 2016, backing doomed procedural measures astatine the party’s nationalist normal aimed astatine stripping him of the statesmanlike information helium had clinched 2 months earlier.

Ms. Hageman worked with chap supporters of Senator Ted Cruz of Texas successful a failed effort to unit a ballot connected the normal floor betwixt Mr. Trump and Mr. Cruz, careless of the results of the primaries and caucuses held crossed America. Calling Mr. Trump “the weakest candidate,” Ms. Hageman attributed his emergence to Democrats who she claimed had voted successful Republican primaries.

She condemned Mr. Trump arsenic a bigoted campaigner who would repel voters Republicans needed to triumph a nationalist election, informing that the G.O.P. would beryllium saddled with “somebody who is racist and xenophobic.”

Ms. Hageman’s yearslong travel from Never-Trumpism to declaring him the champion president of her beingness is 1 of the astir striking illustrations yet of the governmental elasticity demonstrated some by ambitious Republicans successful the Trump epoch and by the erstwhile president himself, who has relentlessly asserted his dominance implicit leaders of his party.

Ms. Hageman is hardly the lone Republican to vigorously reason Mr. Trump and aboriginal backmost him erstwhile it proved politically advantageous. Mr. Cruz and Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, on with Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, who led the 2016 rebellion astatine the convention, each became enthusiastic Trump supporters.

None of them, however, person rather achieved Ms. Hageman’s singular governmental transformation, which has not been antecedently reported. Five years ago, she was a passionate hostile of Mr. Trump who tried to halt him extracurricular the mean electoral process; now, she is his champion successful the Republican Party’s marquee showdown implicit fealty to the erstwhile president.

Ms. Cheney’s vocal absorption to Mr. Trump has turned what mightiness different beryllium a sleepy contention for a safely Republican Wyoming legislature spot into a high-profile trial lawsuit of the erstwhile president’s dominance implicit the party. His obsession with removing Ms. Cheney from bureau — helium has derided her successful astatine slightest 16 statements since March, including 1 connected Thursday that contained a doctored photo combining her hair, assemblage and eyeglasses with erstwhile President George W. Bush’s look — has overshadowed astir each of his different governmental efforts, speech from vying to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

“It’s going to beryllium the astir important House contention successful the state successful 2022,” Ms. Cheney said during a “60 Minutes” interrogation broadcast connected Sunday. “It volition beryllium 1 wherever radical bash person the accidental to say, ‘We privation to basal for the Constitution.’”

Ms. Hageman has ne'er spoken publically astir her effort to artifact Mr. Trump from the 2016 nomination. In a connection to The New York Times, she drew a tenuous transportation betwixt her actions and Ms. Cheney.

“I heard and believed the lies the Democrats and Liz Cheney’s friends successful the media were telling astatine the time, but that is past past arsenic I rapidly realized that their allegations against President Trump were untrue,” Ms. Hageman said. “He was the top president of my lifetime, and I americium arrogant to person been capable to renominate him successful 2020. And I’m arrogant to powerfully enactment him today.”

Ms. Cheney, who declined to remark oregon beryllium interviewed for this article, supported Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign. She endorsed him that May and, successful October, issued a connection reiterating her support aft the merchandise of the “Access Hollywood” signaling successful which Mr. Trump bragged astir groping women.

The girl of a longtime Wyoming authorities legislator, Ms. Hageman, 58, built her vocation arsenic a h2o and earthy resources lawyer warring environmentalists and authorities regulations. She became known successful Wyoming for her palmy situation of a Clinton-era prohibition connected roadworthy operation connected millions of acres of U.S. Forest Service land. In 2009, a header successful an environmentalist mag called her “The Wicked Witch of the West.”

In 2016, Ms. Hageman went to the Republican normal successful Cleveland arsenic a Cruz delegate aft the Texas legislator won Wyoming with 66 percent of the ballot and 23 of 25 delegates astatine the state’s region conventions that March.

She had been appointed by the Wyoming delegation to the nationalist convention’s almighty Rules Committee. The large question facing the committee’s members that twelvemonth was however overmuch accidental delegates should person successful choosing the party’s nominee.

Leading up to the convention, Ms. Hageman joined a tiny radical of Republicans who organized a last-ditch effort to “unbind” delegates. They hoped to insert a conscience proviso freeing delegates to ballot for whomever they wanted careless of the results of authorities primaries and caucuses, a determination concocted by supporters of Mr. Cruz to instigate a normal level fight.

That summer, Ms. Hageman was a regular subordinate successful league calls plotting the last-gasp absorption to Mr. Trump, agelong aft helium had won capable delegates to clinch the nomination. She and different delegates, galore of them societal conservatives from the West loyal to Mr. Cruz, argued that Mr. Trump was a crab connected the party, chosen by wide voters successful Democratic states to undermine Republicans nationwide.

The Republican National Committee, moving with the Trump campaign, did each it could to squash the rebellion.

“To ballot to escaped the delegates astatine that clip was considered a superior discourtesy by the Trump campaign,” said Steve Duprey, past a Republican National Committee subordinate from New Hampshire who was connected the Rules Committee. “It was intelligibly an effort to contradict him the nomination, which helium had won just and square.”

Reince Priebus, past the president of the R.N.C., held agelong meetings with Mr. Cuccinelli and Rules Committee members who were seeking to unbind delegates. Ms. Hageman, on with Senator Mike Lee of Utah, who was astatine the clip the highest-profile Rules Committee subordinate progressive successful the stop-Trump movement, was among the attendees.

It soon became wide the Trump squad had peeled distant capable enactment from Mr. Cuccinelli that the ballot would not beryllium close. Mr. Trump’s allies forced a ballot that would affirmatively state delegates to beryllium bound by the results of their state’s nominating contest.

When it was clip to vote, 87 stood successful favour of binding delegates.

Only 12, including Ms. Hageman and Mr. Lee, voted successful opposition, acold abbreviated of the 28 needed to enactment the question of unbinding delegates to a ballot of the afloat convention, which would person been a perchance embarrassing spectacle for Mr. Trump. Though the combat was over, Ms. Hageman participated successful meetings implicit the adjacent fewer days successful which Cruz delegates discussed whether they had immoderate remaining options to halt Mr. Trump.

Mr. Trump, who endorsed Ms. Hageman this month, is alert of her enactment for Mr. Cruz successful 2016 and, during his interrogation with her this summertime earlier helium made his decision, concisely touched connected her relation successful the effort to halt Mr. Trump from claiming the nomination, according to a idiosyncratic acquainted with their talks who spoke connected the information of anonymity due to the fact that helium was not authorized to sermon the endorsement process. Mr. Trump, who has taken peculiar pleasance successful collecting the enactment of converted never-Trumpers, worked to wide the Wyoming tract for Ms. Hageman, sending a fleet of aides to enactment for her and asking different candidates to driblet retired of the contention aft helium made the endorsement.

The erstwhile president has for months focused connected ousting Ms. Cheney. His aides and his lad Donald Trump Jr. tried unsuccessfully successful March to alteration Wyoming’s predetermination law successful a mode that would person wounded the congresswoman’s re-election prospects.

Ms. Hageman, Mr. Trump said successful his endorsement, “is each successful for America First.”

It took years for Ms. Hageman to go an unabashed Trump supporter.

When she ran for Wyoming politician successful 2018, Mr. Trump endorsed Foster Friess, a billionaire blimpish donor who had backed Mr. Trump’s 2016 effort. Mr. Friess, who died successful May, finished 2nd to Mark Gordon, who was the authorities treasurer and is present Wyoming’s governor. Ms. Hageman placed third.

Ms. Hageman was known for her penchant to attack chap Republican candidates successful debates. She did not invoke Mr. Trump oregon his run themes in her tv advertising.

“She was talking astir authorities issues then, not thing federal,” said Diemer True, a erstwhile Wyoming State Senate president who besides served arsenic president of the Wyoming Republican Party.

In 2020, Ms. Hageman ran for bureau again, seeking 1 of Wyoming’s 2 posts arsenic members of the Republican National Committee. This time, she aligned herself with Mr. Trump against Barbara Cubin, a erstwhile congresswoman backed by enactment moderates. Ms. Hageman prevailed astatine a virtual authorities enactment convention, 152 votes to 105.

Kitty Bennett contributed research.