Reps. Veronica Escobar, Joaquin Castro, and Sylvia Garcia — all of whom are Texas Democrats — have joined together for a letter demanding the expulsion from Congress of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) over his role in inciting the recent deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol. Before the violent overrunning of the Capitol while members of Congress were inside, Cruz helped push the deranged lies about the presidential election outcome and insisted — among other things — that the presidential election results should be subject to an audit, no matter the rounds of comprehensive, systematic verification that the results already underwent in every single state.
Cruz’s petulant demand for an audit also ignored dozens and dozens of post-election court cases, all of which ended with no court acceptance of the systematic fraud claims that Trump and his allies have pushed. The Capitol rioters proceeded under the pretense of Cruz’s vitriol — in video from the Capitol violence, one of the rioters said, “I think Cruz would want us to do this so I think we’re good.”
The terrorists felt like they were being directed.
One said: "Hawley, Cruz… I think Cruz would want us to do this, so I think we're good."
WATCH: https://t.co/n2iSJ8dmZW
This "Inside The Capitol Siege" footage is wild. The delusion of these terrorists is truly remarkable. pic.twitter.com/lSmiklIPys
— Jake Lobin (@JakeLobin) January 17, 2021
Expelling Cruz from the Senate would, according to the Constitution, require the agreement of two-thirds of the chamber, which is the same threshold required for a conviction of an impeached president in a Senate trial. The Texas Representatives calling for Cruz’s expulsion commented, in part, as follows:
‘Senator Cruz’s objection to the election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris helped incite the attack and gave credence to a process that had no chance of succeeding and put all of us in danger. In his effort to appease Donald Trump and his supporters, Cruz encouraged these terrorists to wage armed insurrection against America. It is evident that Senator Cruz echoed Trump’s false voter fraud claims for political gain, going so far as sending a fundraising plea during the armed stand-off in the Capitol where members of Congress, staff, and journalists were held hostage for hours… We believe Senator Cruz’s conduct was seditious and he must be held accountable.’
Read their full letter in the post below:
.@SenTedCruz’s objection to the election helped incite the January 6 attack, gave credence to a process that had no chance of succeeding, and put Congress in danger.
His conduct was seditious. He must be held accountable and expelled from the Senate. pic.twitter.com/80J2C8unfY
— Rep. Veronica Escobar (@RepEscobar) January 16, 2021
In an unhinged speech in Georgia in the days prior to the Capitol attack, Cruz insisted that Trump supporters “will not go quietly into the night,” also yelling that he was “proud to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with you as we defend the United States of America.” More broadly, he helped lead the effort to object to the Congressional certification of some of Biden’s electoral votes, giving national credence to the lie that the election was dubious.
Sen. @tedcruz: "We will not go quietly into the night. We will defend liberty." pic.twitter.com/xMdu4hmbF4
— The Hill (@thehill) January 3, 2021
