Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) are facing censure or expulsion from the U.S. Senate as the result of a complaint filed with the Senate Ethics Committee by seven Democrats.

NBC News reports that the complaint filed by the seven Democrats makes it clear that there should be severe punishment for actions Cruz and Hawley took that may have contributed to the storming of the Capitol building on January 6:

“A group of Senate Democrats filed an ethics complaint against Republican Sens. Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz on Thursday calling for an investigation to determine whether they coordinated with the organizers of the Jan. 6 pro-Trump rally that preceded the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol. The Senate Ethics Committee ‘should also offer recommendations for strong disciplinary action, including up to expulsion or censure, if warranted by the facts uncovered,’ the seven Democrats, led by Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, said in a letter to the committee’s chair and vice chair.”

However, while the complaint is indeed seeking extreme punishment for Cruz and Hawley, the Senate Ethics Committee is notoriously lenient due to the fact that its membership is equally divided between Democrats and Republicans with three members from each party. Roll Call recently reported that the panel received 251 complaints in 2020 and dismissed almost every single one of them.

The complaint goes on to accuse Cruz and Hawley of lending “‘legitimacy to the mob’s cause and made future violence more likely,” and also included this accusation against the two GOP senators:

“The question the Senate must answer is not whether Sens. Hawley and Cruz had the right to object to the electors, but whether the senators failed to ‘[p]ut loyalty to the highest moral principles and to country above loyalty to persons, party, or Government department’ or engaged in ‘improper conduct reflecting on the Senate’ in connection with the violence on January 6.”

Why did Cruz and Hawley undertake their actions? According to the letter filed with the ethics committee, to drum up campaign contributions and for political advantage:

“These solicitations continued during and after the insurrection.”

Both Cruz and Hawley have steadfastly denied any wrongdoing.

Featured Image Via NBC News