Democratic senators call for ethics probe of Cruz for election objections.
7 Democrats suggest censure or expulsion for Texas’ junior senator, Missouri’s Hawley
WASHINGTON — Seven Democratic senators are calling for the chamber’s ethics panel to investigate U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz’s objection to Arizona’s electoral votes before the Capitol riots, which they say “lend credence to the insurrectionists’ cause and set the stage for future violence.”
The Democrats want the ethics panel to decide whether Cruz and U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican who also objected to electoral votes on Jan. 6, failed to put “loyalty to the highest moral principles and to country above loyalty to persons, party, or government department.” They recommended possible punishments, including censure or expulsion.
“By proceeding with their objections to the electors after the violent attack, Senators Cruz and Hawley lent legitimacy to the mob’s cause and made future violence more likely,” the senators wrote in the ethics complaint filed Thursday. “The Senate has the exclusive power to determine whether these actions violated its ethics rules, to investigate further conduct of which we may not be aware that may have violated these rules, and to consider appropriate discipline.”
Cruz, who has voiced no regrets about his objection, has said he was trying to build confidence in the results by setting them aside for 10 days while an “emergency audit” could be conducted. His effort was initially backed by 11 other Republicans, though six dropped their objections after the riot.
“It is unfortunate that some congressional Democrats are disregarding President Biden's call for unity and are instead playing political games by filing frivolous ethics complaints against their colleagues,” a spokeswoman for Cruz said. “Sen. Cruz debated a question of law and policy on the floor of the Senate, he did so expressly supported by 11 other Senators, and he utilized a process to raise the objection that has been explic
itly authorized by federal law for nearly 150 years.”
The complaint comes as Democrats continue to push for repercussions for the lawmakers they blame for inciting the insurrection, chiefly former President Donald Trump, whom the House impeached last week, making him the first president to be impeached twice.
A Senate trial is still pending, though the chances of Trump being convicted appear slim.
It is also unlikely that Cruz would be censured or expelled from the Senate, which is now evenly split between Republicans and Democrats. A censure requires a majority vote, meaning every Democrat would have to agree, and expulsion would require twothirds support.
Both are rare. Since 1789, the Senate has censured nine members and expelled 15.
The complaint against Cruz and Hawley was signed by U.S. Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Ron Wyden of Oregon, Tina Smith of Minnesota, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, Tim Kaine of Virginia and Sherrod Brown of Ohio.
Probe’s future unclear
The top Democrat on the six-member ethics panel, Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware, previously called for Cruz and Hawley to resign. Beyond that, it’s unclear what appetite there may be for such an inquiry.
The committee’s rules say it “shall promptly conduct a preliminary inquiry” into complaints it receives. The committee can then vote on whether to continue or dismiss the complaint.
While several senators have voiced frustration with Cruz, others — including at least one Democrat — have said they believe he was within his rights to object.
“I think the Senate is a place of freedom. And people come here to speak their piece, and they do, and they provide a kind of leadership,” U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, said earlier this month. “In some cases, it’s positive, in some cases, maybe not.”
Cornyn against action
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, said in a Thursday interview with Austin news station KXAN that he doesn’t believe Cruz bears any blame for the riots and does not support calls for his resignation or expulsion.
“Free speech gives people the right to be wrong. It gives them a right to express their strongly held views,” Cornyn said.
Cruz has said he wanted to delay certifying the election results until after an “emergency audit,” which he has said would have built trust in the outcome of the election that Trump falsely claimed had been stolen.
Cruz has said he did not know whether there was “sufficient fraud to alter the outcome.”
“It would have been a much better solution, it would have helped bring this country together, it would have helped heal the divisions we have in this country and help re-establish trust in our democratic system,” Cruz said earlier this month. “What I was working to do is find a way to re-establish widespread trust in the system.”
Cruz objected to Arizona’s electoral votes, sparking a debate that was cut off as a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol less than an hour after Cruz raised his objection.
While Cruz’s objection originally had the backing of 11 other Republican senators, six dropped their objections after the riots.
Justification questioned
“Rather than following their colleagues’ example, Senators Cruz and Hawley continued to amplify the claims of fraud that they likely knew to be baseless and that had led to violence earlier that day,” the Democrats said in the complaint.
They wrote that they don’t buy Cruz’s justification for his objection.
“Both Senators Hawley and Cruz argued that the public perception of fraud justified their actions. This perception was created by President Trump’s baseless claims, and was magnified by Sens. Cruz and Hawley’s repetition of those claims,” they wrote. “It is probable that Sens. Cruz and Hawley knew those claims to be false.”