GOP Senators Cruz, Hawley face growing calls for disbarment [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Thousands of lawyers and law students have called for the disbarment of GOP Senators Ted Cruz (TX.) and Josh Hawley (MO.) for challenging the Electoral College results that certified President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
•  Petitioners believed that both lawmakers contributed to Wednesday’s riot which resulted in five deaths.
• Cruz and Hawley also faced calls for resignation.

Republican Senators Ted Cruz (TX.) and Josh Hawley (MO.) are facing calls for disbarment.

Thousands of lawyers and law students argued that both lawmakers have incited violence that contributed to Wednesday’s Capitol chaos, by contesting President-elect Joe Biden’s victory during Congress’ joint session.

First reported by The American Prospect, the petition said that “Senators Hawley and Cruz directly incited the January 6th insurrection, repeating dangerous and unsubstantiated statements regarding the election and abetting the lawless behavior of President Trump. A violent mob attacked the U.S. Capitol. Five people have died.”

“The nation and the world watched as rioters took over the very halls and chambers that embody our democracy. Yet after the violence and terror of the day’s events, Senators Hawley and Cruz still chose to stand in the chamber of the U.S. Senate and persist in their baseless objections to the will of the people,” the petition continued.

A group of Yale law students which include Daniel Ki had kicked start the petition. In his interview with The Washington Post, Ki said that they believed that “it was important to speak up.”

“We decided to ask other law students and members of the bar to join in the call to begin immediate disbarment proceedings against Sens. Hawley and Cruz and have been inspired and heartened by the overwhelming response,” he told the newspaper.

Signees of the petition include former Democratic Senator Russ Feingold (WIS.), retired judge H. Lee Sarokin and Harvard Law professor Laurence Tribe, among many others.

Hawley was particularly cited by former GOP National Committee Chairman Michael Steele after a photo showed that the senator made a gesture of support to pro-Trump supporters in Washington earlier Wednesday.

Both Cruz and Hawley have also faced calls of resignation from their Democratic colleagues including Senators Patty Murray (WA.), Chris Coons (DEL.) and Sherrod Brown (OH.)

Both lawyers who came from Harvard and Yale law schools have earned the ire of the public for continuously backing President Donald Trump and his baseless accusations of a fraudulent election, resulting in his supporters’ rage that ended in violence with the Capitol police.

The siege resulted in five deaths, including the passing of one police officer.

Source: The Hill