United States Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) got into an argument with reporters on Capitol Hill on Friday over who was behind Monday's leak of a draft Supreme Court opinion reversing the landmark Roe versus Wade and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania versus Casey decisions, which codified the constitutional right to have an abortion.
Cruz first shared his theory in a Tuesday morning Fox Business appearance, postulating to host Jim Varney that "some left-wing presumably law clerk wanted to put political pressure on the five Justices" who were named in the document's majority. "They wanted to put heat and they wanted to invoke politics to try to get them to change their vote. And by the way," Cruz continued, "if that left-wing law clerk succeeds, it would be the most grotesque politicization of the Supreme Court in the history of our nation."
Despite admitting that there is no evidence to support his suspicion, Cruz doubled down on his allegation throughout the week. But on Friday, when confronted by media correspondents from outlets other than Fox News who dared to ask questions, Cruz got mean.
"Senator, why do you think you know this was a liberal clerk who leaked this? Do you have information that suggests that?" an off-camera reporter asked Cruz.
He was unable to offer anything of substance.
"Because I'm not a moron. Because I live on planet earth," Cruz snapped, adding, "because this is obviously an attempt from someone who is unhappy about the direction the Court is going, to put political pressure on the Justices to change their outcome. That is the only reason this gets leaked, and you know that. Come on, you're a reporter in Washington DC."
The gentleman then proposed an alternative possibility – that a conservative inside the Court leaked the opinion because "they supported the original [Roe] decision and wants to lock them [the Justices] back in. That's a completely reasonable scenario, isn't it?" he posited.
Cruz did not take kindly to having his unsubstantiated conjecture challenged.
"You know what, I, I, I, find that ludicrous. But if it's the case, maybe you'll win a Pulitzer for that," he sniveled.
The reporter pressed Cruz further.
"Well you're saying you have no evidence," he said, spurring an abrupt interruption by Cruz.
"I think it's obvious what's going on here. And, and, and, we've all seen leaks often enough in this town, just not at the Supreme Court. This has never happened in any case ever, and it is truly horrifying," the Senator said.
That is false. The original 1973 Roe ruling was leaked ahead of time.
Cruz then said as he has in previous interviews that he hopes that the person responsible for Monday's dump is held criminally accountable and quickly arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
"I've heard reports that the FBI is going to investigate this," Cruz said. That too is untrue, regardless of what Cruz said that he "heard."
Chief Justice John Roberts did order an internal probe, however, the specifics on how it will be conducted and by whom have not been fully established. And there is no proof that any federal laws were broken.
Nevertheless, Cruz – who opposes the bipartisan congressional panel investigating the January 6th, 2021 Capitol insurrection (which he supported) – maintained that the leaker should be locked up and forgotten.
"Whoever did this leak should be prosecuted and should go to jail for a very long time," Cruz stated. "This has shaken the independence and the ability of the judiciary to function."
Watch below via The Hill:
Reporter: "Senator, why do you think you know this was a liberal clerk who leaked this? Do you have information that suggests that?"@SenTedCruz: "Because I'm not a moron. Because I live on planet earth." https://t.co/GxGxN9hAXT pic.twitter.com/5Xaj9bSEvg
— The Hill (@thehill) May 6, 2022
