All Democratic members of a Senate Judiciary subcommittee boycotted a hearing Wednesday focused on the Muslim Brotherhood's alleged network within the United States. Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who led the hearing, criticized the absence, calling it "an embarrassment" and suggesting it indicated a refusal to confront evidence.
Cruz linked the Democratic boycott to the primary victory of Abdul El-Sayed, a candidate who he stated campaigned with streamer Hasan Piker. Cruz cited Piker's past comment that "America deserved 9/11" and questioned what El-Sayed's success indicated about the direction of the Democratic Party. He also stated that El-Sayed is the son-in-law of a leading member of several Brotherhood groups.
The five Democratic members of the subcommittee—Senators Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, Alex Padilla of California, and Peter Welch of Vermont—had announced in advance that they would not attend. In a joint statement, the senators accused Cruz of staging a "political creepshow" that scapegoated Muslim Americans. They stated their focus was on "costs families face thanks to rampant, non-stop Trump corruption."
Senator Blumenthal separately told reporters that the Democrats refused to attend because the hearing "could well be used as an anti-Muslim, Islamophobia kind of show trial." He added that he planned to meet with members of the Muslim community who shared concerns about the Muslim Brotherhood, which he acknowledged "appears to be a terrorist organization," while advocating for "tolerance and inclusion."
Offices for Senators Whitehouse and Welch referred inquiries to the joint statement. Offices for Senators Hirono and Padilla had not responded by press time.
Witnesses at the hearing, including former FBI special agent Lara Burns, rejected the characterization of the proceeding as an attack on Muslims. Burns, who worked on a terrorism-financing investigation against the Holy Land Foundation, warned against disregarding politically uncomfortable evidence. She testified that narratives have been intentionally seeded into public discourse to portray terrorist organizations as resistance movements and that Americans cannot "ignore evidence introduced in federal court simply because that evidence is politically uncomfortable."
"The history of this network is not in question," Burns said. "It was made public decades ago, but few paid attention. Now is the time to pay attention and understand the facts."