Hawley and Cruz Face Ethics Complaint

Democrats ask whether the two senators worked with rally organizers before Capitol attack
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 21, 2021 6:51 PM CST
Democrats Want Ethics Probe of Hawley and Cruz
Sen. Josh Hawley, center, waits for the inauguration to begin Wednesday at the US Capitol.   (Jonathan Ernst/Pool Photo via AP)

Republican Sens. Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz face an ethics investigation over their roles in fighting the certification of President Biden's electoral victory and the Jan. 6 rally that turned into an attack on the US Capitol. "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," a group of Democrats wrote Thursday to the Senate Ethics Committee. Hawley, of Missouri, called the complaint in a statement "a flagrant abuse of the Senate ethics process and a flagrant attempt to exact partisan revenge," Politico reports. Cruz, of Texas, didn't issue a response. Seven Democratic senators signed the letter.

The Democrats want the committee to look into whether Hawley and Cruz encouraged the mob attack on the Capitol; coordinated with organizers of the rally supporting President Trump that preceded the riot; received donations from anyone or any group that also supported the pro-Trump rally; and "engaged in criminal conduct or unethical or improper behavior." Both Republican senators have faced demands to resign from the Senate since they voted against accepting the electoral results of Arizona and Pennsylvania that night. Hawley and Cruz have said they didn't incite the riot, and both denounced the violence after it happened, per CNBC. (A Missouri newspaper immediately blamed Hawley.)

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