August 03, 2016, 10:18 am

Dems ask Cruz to hold hearing on Trump's Russian hacking remarks



A pair of Senate Democrats is pushing Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to hold a hearing on Donald Trump's call for Russia to obtain and leak Hillary Clinton's personal emails.

Sens. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) sent a letter to Cruz Wednesday calling the GOP presidential nominee's remarks "dangerous and irresponsible."

"We ask that you conduct an oversight hearing to determine whether existing federal criminal statutes and federal court jurisdiction sufficiently address conduct related to foreign entities that could undermine our elections," they wrote.The two senators add they specifically want Cruz to look at whether Trump, or anyone else who asks a foreign government to use a cyberattack against a political opponent, broke the law.

But a hearing would put Cruz in the awkward position of using his Senate post to dig into the comments of a political rival and further inflame an already sour relationship between the two Republicans.

Cruz was booed off the stage at the party's convention for refusing to endorse Trump, who insulted Cruz's wife and father during the primaries.

Though Trump has walked back his initial comments on a potential hack — telling Fox News that he was being sarcastic — Democrats have accused him of running afoul of the Logan Act. The law restricts who can negotiate with a foreign government.

Coons and Whitehouse floated in their letter that Trump also potentially violated the Espionage Act.

"Mr. Trump has invited foreign interference with the presidential election, which we believe should be carefully guarded against under U.S. law," the two senators wrote in their letter.

Cruz is the chairman of the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on oversight, agency action, federal rights and federal courts. Coons is the ranking member of the subcommittee.

http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-actio...russia-remarks