Ted Cruz Hits ‘Dishonest Journalists’ For Reports He Took ’18 Seconds’ to Comment on Trump Pardon Tweet
Alright, folks. Here’s the audio pic.twitter.com/3UhsX3f8Jh
— Haley Byrd (@byrdinator) June 4, 2018
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is blasting the reports that suggested he took 18 seconds to responded to a question on President Trump‘s pardon tweet.
The senator was asked by a reporter if he agreed with Trump’s assertion that he could pardon himself. And judging from the recording, it did take 18 seconds for him to say, “That’s not a constitutional area I’ve studied so I will withhold judgement.” However, you can clearly hear footsteps in the clip.
Well, Cruz gave a full response to the question on Twitter.
On the question of whether a president can pardon himself, we’re seeing an abundance of knee-jerk partisanship and dishonest journalism.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 5, 2018
Virtually every Dem is saying “of course not, the president can’t pardon himself (mostly because we hate Trump).” On the other hand, some Rs are saying “of course the president can.”
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 5, 2018
If we were actually focusing on the Constitution, the answer would be more complicated. The text of the Constitution provides, the President “shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.”
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 5, 2018
That text has no limitation on WHOM can be pardoned (although nobody can be pardoned from impeachment or for non-federal offenses).
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 5, 2018
However, in the 1970s, the Department of Justice did issue a legal opinion that the president cannot pardon himself, relying on the principle that nobody can be the judge in his own case.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 5, 2018
That legal principle has a long and venerable history, but it is not reflected in the constitutional text.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 5, 2018
Whether the Department of Justice opinion is right is an open legal question, with scholars on both sides of the political spectrum disagreeing in good faith.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 5, 2018
Cruz then went after the “dishonest journalists” for their reports, saying he was running late to a meeting and was “simply ignoring” the question as “senators do every single day.”
Some dishonest journalists have attacked me for “taking 18 seconds” to answer — without acknowledging that I was walking through the Capitol, late to a meeting, and simply ignoring a question that a reporter had called out at me (as senators do every single day in the Capitol).
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 5, 2018
When reporters chased me down the hall, and another asked the question again, I chose to answer.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 5, 2018
[image via Getty]
