By Valerie Richardson – The Washington Times<\/p>\n
Sen.\u00a0Ted Cruz<\/a>\u00a0had a message for Democrats suggesting the Texas Republican should be tried for treason for calling for an emergency election audit: Calm down.<\/p>\n Mr.\u00a0Cruz<\/a>\u00a0came under fire after announcing Saturday that he and a group of 11 other GOP senators will vote against the Electoral College results in Wednesday\u2019s joint session of Congress unless lawmakers appoint a commission to conduct a 10-day audit of fraud allegations in disputed states.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, listen, I think everyone needs to calm down. I think we need to tone down the rhetoric,\u201d said Mr.\u00a0Cruz<\/a>\u00a0on Fox\u2019s \u201cSunday Morning Futures With Maria Bartiromo.\u201d \u201cThis is already a volatile situation. It\u2019s like a tinderbox, and throwing lit matches into it.\u201d<\/p>\n He said \u201cYesterday \u2026 I had multiple, multiple Democrats urging that I should be arrested and tried for the crimes of sedition and treason.\u201d<\/p>\n In a separate statement last week, Sen. Josh Hawley, Missouri Republican, said that he would object to the certification of the results of the 2020 presidential election, which saw President-elect Joseph R. Biden declared the winner amid allegations of voter fraud in some key swing states.<\/p>\n Those allegations have been rejected by multiple courts, in some cases on procedural grounds, and then-Attorney General William Barr, who said he found no evidence of widespread voter fraud that would alter the result of the election.<\/p>\n Vice President Mike Pence said Saturday that he welcomes the challenge, citing the \u201cconcerns of millions of Americans about voter fraud and irregularities in the last election,\u201d but other Republicans were less enthusiastic.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a little bit of a Don Quixote jousting-at-windmills effort,\u201d said Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson on CBS\u2019s \u201cFace the Nation.\u201d \u201cCertainly, it will fail.\u201d<\/p>\n A bipartisan group of 10 senators, including Republicans Bill Cassidy, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney, said in a Sunday statement that \u201cfurther attempts to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the 2020 Presidential election are contrary to the clearly expressed will of the American people.<\/p>\n \u201cThe voters have spoken, and Congress must now fulfill its responsibility to certify the election results,\u201d they said. \u201cIn two weeks, we will begin working with our colleagues and the new Administration on bipartisan, common-sense solutions to the enormous challenges facing our country. It is time to move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n Former House Speaker Paul D. Ryan said that the Trump campaign \u201chad ample opportunity to challenge election results,\u201d and that such efforts \u201cstrike at the foundation of our republic.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is difficult to conceive of a more anti-democratic and anti-conservative act than a federal intervention to overturn the results of state-certified elections and disenfranchise millions of Americans,\u201d Mr. Ryan said in a statement. \u201cThe fact that this effort will fail does not mean it will not do significant damage to American democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr.\u00a0Cruz<\/a>, who said that he would have preferred to see the Supreme Court take up the issue, argued that Mr. Barr was \u201cspeaking as to the evidence the Department of Justice saw.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe Department of Justice wasn\u2019t administering any elections, did not have access to particularly widespread evidence on either side of the issue,\u201d Mr.\u00a0Cruz<\/a>\u00a0said.<\/p>\n \u201cAs for the states, there are a lot of people in the states and state legislatures who have expressed deep, deep concerns about the unlawful practices that we saw on Election Day, that we saw particularly cities controlled by Democratic politicians shutting down the vote, throwing out observers, disregarding the law,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Such an emergency electoral commission has a precedent \u2014 the 1876 presidential results were evaluated by a commission after allegations of fraud \u2014 and would only take 10 days, meaning the audit would be finished before the Jan. 20 inauguration, Mr.\u00a0Cruz<\/a>\u00a0said.<\/p>\n He added that \u201cdismissing these claims, I think, does real violence to our democratic system. We ought to have a serious, fair process and tribunal to consider these claims, consider them quickly, consider them expeditiously. We can do it in 10 days before the inauguration.\u201d<\/p>\n A Reuters\/IPSOS poll released Nov. 18 found that 39% of Americans surveyed said they were concerned the election was rigged, including 68% of Republicans, 16% of Democrats and 31% of independents.<\/p>\n