Senate Dems Demand That Ted Cruz Hold Hearings On Trump’s Russia Comments

Republican presidential candidate, businessman Donald Trump answers a question, as Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, , listens, during the Republican presidential debate sponsored by CNN, Sa... Republican presidential candidate, businessman Donald Trump answers a question, as Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, , listens, during the Republican presidential debate sponsored by CNN, Salem Media Group and the Washington Times at the University of Miami, Thursday, March 10, 2016, in Coral Gables, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee) MORE LESS
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Senate Democrats are urging Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) to hold hearings on comments made by Donald Trump urging Russia to hack into Hillary Clinton’s email.

Judiciary Committee members Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) sent Cruz a letter Tuesday calling for 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.”

Cruz chairs the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight, Agency Action, Federal Rights and Federal Courts.

The Democrats’ request cited a letter that GOP national security experts sent to lawmakers last week asking for a congressional investigation into the hack of the Democratic National Committee’s emails.

After reports surfaced that Russia may have been behind the DNC email hack, Trump told reporters last week he hoped Russia was “able to find the 30,000 e-mails that are missing.”

“I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press,” Trump said, in the comments he said were directed at Russia.

The two Senate Democrats called Trump’s remarks “dangerous and irresponsible,” in their letter to Cruz. They also suggested that the comments could lead to the violation of various U.S. laws involving privacy and espionage.

“To ensure the integrity of the presidential election and its insulation from Russian cyber threats, we ask that you conduct an oversight hearing to consider whether existing federal criminal statutes and federal court jurisdiction sufficiently address conduct related to foreign entities that could undermine our elections,” the letter to Cruz said. “Specifically, we ask that you consider whether requests for foreign entities to conduct cyber attacks on political opponents violate existing federal criminal statutes, and whether there are obstacles to the federal courts asserting jurisdiction to protect the integrity of our nation’s elections.”

Read the full letter below:

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