Seven Democrats in the U.S. Senate requested an ethics investigation Thursday into Republican senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Josh Hawley of Missouri in connection with their challenges to the Electoral College vote certification the day a deadly riot broke out at the U.S. Capitol Building.
In a letter addressed to the Senate Committee on Ethics, the seven Democratic senators told committee Chairman Chris Coons of Delaware, a Democrat, and Vice Chairman James Lankford of Oklahoma, a Republican, that Cruz and Hawley “amplified claims of election fraud that had resulted in threats of violence against state and local officials around the country” upon announcing their decisions to object to the election results.
“The Senate Ethics Committee should investigate their conduct to fully understand their role,” the letter said. “The actions of which we know demand an investigation and a determination whether disciplinary action is warranted. Until then, a cloud of uncertainty will hang over them and over this body.”
