While Former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial will take place on the Senate floor and on live TV, a secretive Senate committee will be investigating Senators Josh Hawley (R. MO) and Ted Cruz (R. TX) for their roles in inciting the Capitol Building violence of January 6 by helping Trump push his false election fraud narrative that led to the attack.
Seven Democrats filed a complaint against the two Republican Senators and Politico reported that the Senate Ethics Committee will undertake an investigation. Both Hawley and Cruz have used the opportunity to fundraise and move forward with their objections to the 2020 election results that put Joe Biden in the White House even after the violent insurrection.
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Hawley’s fundraiser email claimed that his objections to the election were “not about me.”
Similarly, Cruz’s email informed voters of his intent to “lead the fight to reject electors from key states unless there is an emergency audit of the election results.”
As the Independent reported last month, the armed, pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol mere moments after each Senator sent out their emails. Fellow Republican Senator Tom Cotton (R. AR) condemned both senators on Fox News, saying that both were merely “giving false hope to their supporters” for a political advantage.
Cotton added that while Hawley and Cruz knew that the election was not going to be overturned and “these senators, as insurrectionists literally stormed the Capitol, were sending out fundraising emails.”
Politico referred to the committee as “one of the most secretive committees in Congress,” meaning it is likely to be some time before their findings are made public.
Hawley filed a counter complaint, claiming the ethics complaints against him was “improper conduct for partisan gain.”
The committee is led by Chris Coons (D. DE) who called for Hawley and Cruz to resign, and James Lankford (R. OK) who allegedly had plans to join Cruz and Hawley in challenging the election results prior to the Capitol siege.
Coons and Lankford both told Politico that they will “keep a tight lid” on the investigations.
After being one of only 8 Republican Senators to object to the certification of Joe Biden’s electoral victory over President Donald Trump which played a part in inciting the violence at the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 6, Freshman Senator Josh Hawley (R. MO) is facing severe financial setbacks.
The latest in the fallout for Hawley sees a major hotel chain pull out of a Florida fundraiser.
The fundraiser set to take place in February at the Portofino Bay Hotel at Universal Orlando was organized by Fighting for Missouri, but Loews Hotels, which owns the Portofino, said it was canceling the event following Hawley’s actions.
Loews Hotel, in a Tweet, issued the following statement:
“We are horrified and opposed to the events at the Capitol and all who supported and incited the actions. In light of those events and for the safety of our guests and team members, we have informed the host of the Feb. fundraiser that it will no longer be held at Loews Hotels.”
This news comes after publishing giant Simon & Schuster cancelled plans to release a book by Hawley.
According to publishing giant, the decision to pull the book was made as a result of Hawley’s role in the riot, which he did not explicitly endorse.
He did, however, spread Trump’s false claims about the election being rigged and help lead the charge in Congress to overturn the election by objecting to electoral votes, thereby motivating Wednesday’s rioters. He was also photographed waving in support to those who would shortly attack the Capitol building.
Hawley, and other lawmakers objecting to election results with no evidence at the behest of the President, have also seen a loss in support from important donors.
While many large companies such as Blue Cross Blue Shield, Marriott International, Dow Inc, and Mastercard have pledge to no longer support such lawmakers in the future, Hallmark, based in Hawley’s home state of Missouri, took it a step further.
Not content with just ceasing future donations, Hallmark demanded Hawley and fellow Missouri Lawmaker Roger Marshall refund their political contributions:
“Hallmark believes the peaceful transition of power is part of the bedrock of our democratic system, and we abhor violence of any kind. The recent actions of Senators Josh Hawley and Roger Marshall do not reflect our company’s values. As a result, HALLPAC requested Sens. Hawley and Marshall to return all HALLPAC campaign contributions.”
Hawley responded on Twitter, with a statement blaming the cancellation on “woke” cancel culture:
The Missouri Republican has often been cited as a possible future GOP presidential candidate and his book was an intended forum for a favorite conservative theme: the undue power of Google, Facebook and other Social Media and internet giants.
