Lauren Blair Bianchi resigned as communications director for Senator Ted Cruz. It is reported that she did so in reaction to the riot on Capitol Hill and her own discomfort over Cruz’s role in contesting the 2020 election results. She has worked for the senator since July 2019.

Bianchi and Cruz mutually agreed that “it would be best to part ways”. Her job as communications director was to get Cruz’s message out so if she strongly opposed what that message is, it would be natural to assume she would resign, separate herself from the message. In this case, it was Cruz’s rhetoric in favor of opposing the electoral votes of Arizona and Pennsylvania to certify Joe Biden’s victory.

In a statement to The Hill, the senator’s office confirmed that communications director Lauren Blair Bianchi had agreed with the senator that “it would be best to part ways.”

“Sen. Cruz and Lauren agreed that it would be best to part ways. He thanks her for her service and wishes her the best,” read the statement.

On Tuesday morning her Twitter account was made private and there is no mention of working for Senator Cruz in her bio.

I don’t fault her for wanting to leave while all the fall-out from January 6 continues. I do question, though, why she waited so long. Were Cruz’s rhetoric and participation in contesting the election results ok for the last two months, continuing to ratchet up along the way? Is it only after the violence, death, and destruction of the day of the riot on Capitol Hill that she realized the consequences of his participation? It’s not clear exactly which day she resigned but I’m assuming it was yesterday if her Twitter account became a private one then. Why did she wait six days? This looks like more of a reaction to the McCarthyism being shown to anyone in Trump’s world and those supporting him. She’s a staffer looking out for her future career opportunities.

“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,” a source close to the situation said, according to Punchbowl. “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.”

“I’m grateful to Senator Cruz for the opportunity and wish him and his first-rate staff nothing but the best,” she said.

>⁦@laurenblair88⁩ — ⁦@tedcruz⁩ comms director — is leaving his office, increasingly uncomfortable with what’s going on. pic.twitter.com/N1nBfmT9KG

— Punchbowl News (@PunchbowlNews) January 12, 2021

Cruz himself is now saying he was only participating in objecting to acceptance of Biden’s electoral win on January 6 based on legality and to fight voter fraud. He is trying to separate himself from the president’s words, claiming he doesn’t agree with them.

Just one day after all the chaos, Cruz told ABC13 exclusively that his intent to oppose Biden’s electoral win was based on legality and to fight voter fraud.

In his first interview since the U.S. Capitol was under unprecedented siege, Cruz insisted that he did not agree and has never agreed with the sitting president’s rhetoric that fired up the chaos and left four people dead on Wednesday.

“The president’s language and rhetoric often goes too far. I think, [Wednesday] in particular, the president’s language and rhetoric crossed the line and it was reckless. I disagree with it, and I have disagreed with the president’s language and rhetoric for the last four years,” Cruz said.

He continued, “If you looked to what I have said, you will not find me say the same language or rhetoric.”

That may be true but the fact is that even after the riot, Cruz went back to work with the rest of Congress and continued his opposition. Other members of Congress who intended to side with those objecting to certifying the election changed their minds and dropped their objections. Texas newspapers have called for his resignation but as of yet, I have not seen calls for his resignation coming from any of the Texas congressional delegation. I haven’t called for his resignation but I have said he should be held accountable the next time he runs for office, whether it is for re-election or for president.

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is doing some fancy footwork around the fall-out over the domestic terror attack on Capitol Hill. A loyal Trump supporter, he raised some eyebrows with a call for his supporters to stop blaming Antifa for the riot. Last weekend he told supporters that the riot was conducted by Trump supporters and then gave an odd reason for this conclusion – Antifa cover their faces during mob violence. Um. Ok.

“There are no excuses for those who stormed the Capitol on Wednesday,” Patrick said. “Five people died. And, sadly, it appears that most of the protesters inside the Capitol were Trump supporters.”

Patrick said one reason he knows that is that antifa protesters — a decentralized anti-fascism movement — typically cover their faces.

Patrick also condemned those involved in the attack.

“There is no such thing as justifiable political violence,” Patrick said. “Politics is never an excuse for criminal behavior.”

As is typical for Lt. Gov. Patrick, he plays both sides of the fence. While he was telling supporters to stop blaming Antifa, he also made a point that not all Trump supporters should be blamed for the violence. And he said that Cruz’s actions didn’t cause any of the violence.

But Patrick over the weekend also blasted those on the left who have tried to make it appear all Trump supporters deserve blame for the death and destruction that occurred.

“Enough of blaming all Trump supporters for the crimes of a small group who attacked the Capitol,” Patrick wrote. “I’ve spoken to and met thousands of Trump supporters across the nation. They love this country and the Constitution. They hate what they saw at the U.S. Capitol as much as I do.”

Last night on Laura Ingraham’s show on FNC, Patrick continued the fence-straddling. He told her that no, he doesn’t support impeachment efforts against President Trump but he is disappointed that Trump did nothing to tamp down the crowd’s agitated state that day. Trump wasn’t a calming voice but instead encouraged them to “fight” and to not accept defeat.