investigate their conduct to fully understand their role. 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.
| I. | Facts |
| A. | Senators Hawley and Cruz Declared Their Intention to Object to the Vote Amidst Violent Threats |
Senators Cruz and Hawley’s objections on January 6 were part of an ongoing effort by President Trump and his allies to obstruct the counting of electoral votes that would confirm his defeat. The President filed dozens of meritless lawsuits;[1] made direct threats to state and local officials;[2] and issued false public statements alleging election fraud. President Trump’s efforts culminated in an attempt to convince Congressional allies and Vice President Pence to reject groundlessly the electors from six states when Congress met to count the Electoral College votes on January 6.[3] Senators Cruz and Hawley became leaders of that effort.
At the time the senators announced their support for President Trump’s scheme, his rhetoric had already incited threats of violence. By early December, President Trump’s false fraud claims had provoked numerous threats against state and local election officials[4] and employees of voting machine companies.[5] On December 1, 2020, Gabriel Sterling, a Republican election official at the Georgia Secretary of State’s office, stated that the false claims of election fraud by President Trump were “inspiring people to commit potential acts of violence.”[6] He called on the President, as well as Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, to “step up” and “condemn” these threats.[7] Instead, President Trump continued to repeat the baseless claims. He called on
- ↑ William Cummings, et al., By the numbers: President Donald Trump's failed efforts to overturn the election, USA Today (Jan. 6, 2021), https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/politics/elections/2021/01/06/trumps-failed-efforts-overturn-election-numbers/4130307001/.
- ↑ Michael D. Shear & Stephanie Saul, Trump, in Taped Call, Pressured Georgia Official to ‘Find’ Votes to Overturn Election, N.Y. Times (Jan. 3, 2021), https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/03/us/politics/trump-raffensperger-call-georgia.html.
- ↑ Peter Baker, Maggie Haberman, & Annie Karni, Pence Reached His Limit With Trump. It Wasn’t Pretty, N.Y. Times (Jan. 12, 2021), https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/12/us/politics/mike-pence-trump.html; Michael S. Schmidt, Trump Says Pence Can Overturn His Loss in Congress. That’s Not How It Works, N.Y. Times (Jan. 5, 2021), https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/05/us/politics/pence-trump-election.html.
- ↑ Michael Wines, Here Are the Threats Terrorizing Election Workers, N.Y. Times (Dec. 3, 2020), https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/03/us/election-officials-threats-trump.html; Celine Castronuovo, Fears of violence grow amid threats to election officials, lawmakers, The Hill (Dec. 12, 2020), https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/529911-fears-of-violence-grow-amid-threats-to-election-officials-lawmakers.
- ↑ Bente Berkeland & Miles Parks, The Toll Of Conspiracy Theories: A Voting Security Expert Lives In Hiding, NPR (Dec. 23, 2020), https://www.npr.org/2020/12/23/948828692/the-toll-of-conspiracy-theories-a-voting-security-expert-lives-in-hiding.
- ↑ Stephen Fowler, 'Someone's Going To Get Killed': Ga. Official Blasts GOP Silence On Election Threats, NPR (Dec. 1, 2020), https://www.npr.org/sections/biden-transition-updates/2020/12/01/940961602/someones-going-to-get-killed-ga-official-blasts-gop-silence-on-election-threats.
- ↑ Id.
2
