Ted Cruz’s Communications Director Resigns Amid Fallout From Deadly Capitol Riot

The communications director for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), resigned on Monday following last week’s mob attack on the Capitol that was inspired by false election fraud claims peddled by President Donald Trump, Cruz and other Republicans.

“I’m grateful to Senator Cruz for the opportunity and wish him and his first-rate staff nothing but the best,” Lauren Blair Bianchi, who had worked in Cruz’s office since July 2019, said in a statement to Punchbowl News.

Bianchi had become increasingly uncomfortable with Cruz’s efforts to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s win, a source familiar with Bianchi’s decision to step down told the outlet.

“Since the election it was becoming clear things were moving in a direction that she was not comfortable with and that culminated with last week’s tragedy in the Capitol,” the source said. “Given that every member of Congress deserves to have a staff aligned with and supportive of their vision, and coupled with the start of the new Congress, she felt it was an appropriate time to step aside.”

Cruz’s office said the senator and Bianchi “agreed that it would be best to part ways,” adding: “He thanks her for her service and wishes her the best.”

Blair didn’t immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.

Democrats, along with a handful of Republicans, have called on Trump to resign after his supporters stormed the Capitol on Wednesday, prompting an hourslong lockdown and resulting in at least five deaths. Trump, who reportedly watched the attack on TV with glee, has refused to step down.

House Democrats introduced an article of impeachment against Trump on Monday. They said they would bring the article to a vote on Wednesday if Vice President Mike Pence doesn’t invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office before then. 

Several key Democrats, including Sen. Patty Murray of Washington and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, have called on Cruz and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) to resign for their role in inciting the insurrectionists.

Hawley was the first senator to state he would object to the certification of electoral votes during the Jan. 6 joint congressional session. Cruz quickly pledged to do the same.

Both senators have been vocal supporters of Trump’s efforts to overturn the election and have repeatedly spread misinformation about the process. The Justice Department and election officials nationwide have rejected Republicans’ allegations of widespread voter fraud and ballot-counting irregularities.

A growing number of Trump administration officials have resigned following the Capitol attack, including Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf. Critics have wondered why it took an act of insurrection for them to finally distance themselves from the president’s outrageous rhetoric and behavior.