Last updated on February 14th, 2021 at 03:06 pm
Democrats are confident that they have the votes in the Senate to call both Sens. Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley as impeachment trial witnesses.
Sawyer Hackett, an advisor to Julian Castro, who is the brother of House impeachment manager Rep. Joaquin Castro, tweeted:
Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley were intimately involved in Trump’s strategy to overturn the election results. They were likely in touch with him on the strategy of January 6th.
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We have the votes to call them as witnesses.
— Sawyer Hackett (@SawyerHackett) February 13, 2021
As Sarah Jones pointed out, the decision to call witnesses could damage the entire Republican Party:
witnesses like Cruz, Hawley, former VP Mike Pence’s Chief of Staff could inadvertently change the way the world sees the Republican Party forever.
This is much bigger than an impeachment trial. It could brand the GOP as traitors for an entire generation.
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) February 13, 2021
The vote to call impeachment trial witnesses is a game-changer. Lindsey Graham changed his vote to be in favor of witnesses because it gives him some procedural tools to attempt to sabotage the trial. If Democrats have the votes to call Cruz and Hawley, the entire plot and level of preplanning that went into setting up the attack on the Capitol will be revealed.
There have been calls for months for Cruz and Hawley to be investigated for their role in the attack. If they are forced to testify under oath, they could give the Senate the information that it needs to censure or take action to expel both of them.
Video of the insurrectionists on the Senate floor shows that they believed that they were doing the bidding of Ted Cruz.
Cruz and Hawley were deeply involved in this plot, and now they may have to testify and be cross-examined under oath.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
