Republican Sen. Josh Hawley on Monday filed a counter-complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee in response to the seven Senate Democrats who had previously filed a complaint against him and Texas Senator Ted Cruz for their opposition to 2020 election results.
“The idea that one senator who disagrees with another senator can therefore have that senator punished, sanctioned, censured, or removed is utterly antithetical to our democracy and the very idea of open, lawful debate,” wrote Hawley in a letter addressed to his seven colleagues.
Last week, Democratic Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse, of Rhode Island; Richard Blumenthal, of Connecticut; Tina Smith of Minnesota, Mazie Hirono, of Hawaii, Sherrod Brown, of Ohio, Tim Kaine, of Virginia, and Ron Wyden of Oregon wrote a letter to the ethics committee asking for an investigation of Cruz and Hawley’s efforts to challenge Biden’s electoral college win in November.