In the aftermath of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, people thought that members of congress who instigated the event would pay a price. It seems that probability is diminishing by the day.
In the Senate, there’s an ongoing investigation into GOP senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley, who notoriously objected to the certification of Biden’s win. But unlike House Democrats, who swiftly moved to punish Paul Gosar within days of his violent social media post threatening Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, Senate Democrats are moving “at a snail’s pace, if it’s moving at all,” according to Politico.
It’s been 10 months since seven Democrats asked for an investigation into Cruz and Hawley. Both have denied any wrongdoing and criticized Democrats for launching what they see as a political complaint.
Asked if there’d been any contact with him or his office by the Ethics Committee, Cruz said: “Not that I’m aware of. Nope.” Hawley said that “I haven’t heard a word. Zero, nothing,” according to Politico.
The report points out that “the comments from Hawley and Cruz underscore the glacial speed of the Senate panel charged with policing its members. Even less public than its notoriously under-wraps House counterpart and no match at all for House Democrats’ quick censure of Gosar (R-Ariz.), the Senate ethics committee appears to have done little in the 10 months since the Democrats first launched their complaint into Hawley and Cruz’s objections to the election, which preceded the pro-Trump riot that led to multiple deaths and injured scores of police officers.”
Despite the slow pace of the investigation, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), who led the complaint against the duo, said he believes things are still moving along.
Politico quoted Whitehouse saying that “if the panel was going to dismiss his allegation that Hawley and Cruz ‘made future violence more likely’ by leading the objections to certifying President Joe Biden’s win, he would have heard so by now.”
Whitehouse and six Democratic colleagues filed a complaint in January demanding that the committee investigate and recommend possible expulsion or censure of the Republicans if the facts warrant that discipline.
