Trevor Reed’s Dad Blasts ‘That Son of a B*tch’ Ted Cruz: ‘Didn’t Do Anything’ To Get Son Out of Russia

When former Marine Trevor Reed was released from Russian custody last month as part of a prisoner swap, his parents “gushed” about several Texas elected officials whom they credited for helping secure their son’s freedom, reported Emily Caldwell of the Dallas Morning News. But Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) “was notably absent from the list, and that was no accident, it turns out.”

Caldwell’s article, published Monday morning, is a scathing account of the Reed family’s disappointment in their state’s junior senator.

Reed’s parents, Joey and Paula Reed, reside in Granbury, a suburb southwest of Fort Worth. Their son was arrested in Moscow in 2019 after he was intoxicated and allegedly grabbed the arm of a police officer who was driving him to the station. Russian authorities claimed Reed’s actions caused the car to swerve, putting the officers’ lives at risk. He was charged with assaulting the officer and sentenced to nine years in prison.

The Reeds maintained that their son was wrongfully convicted, and they were backed up by U.S. authorities, including U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan, who repeatedly denounced the charges against Trevor as “absurd.” The Reeds met with President Joe Biden at the White House in March, and told the News that they were “very pleased” with their conversation and “very appreciative of him hearing us out.”

No such praise would be forthcoming for Cruz.

“He didn’t do anything,” was Joey Reed’s blunt assessment. “He’s an embarrassment to the state of Texas, let me just say that. I don’t care what or who runs against him, I will work for their campaign to defeat that son of a bitch.”

Caldwell wrote that Joey said he was “unaware of any significant behind-the-scenes efforts by Cruz and has no recollection of the senator’s staff even telling the family he was doing that.”

Joey described how they had reached out to Cruz’s office when Trevor was first arrested, and then again after he was sentenced to nine years in prison. According to Joey, a Cruz staffer told him the senator would not help publicly because he was “such an enemy of Putin” and had taken such a vocal stance against the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which would have allowed Russia to sell gas to Germany directly without needing to go through Ukraine.

Cruz was “afraid that if he says anything, it will hurt your son,” Joey recounted the staffer’s comments, noting the family’s skepticism at this excuse. The senator “never said another word” after that, until Trevor was released, posting a statement on his website and Twitter account that he was “relieved” that the former Marine “has been freed from his wrongful detention by Russia” and could now “be reunited with his family.”

I’m relieved that Trevor Reed has been freed from his wrongful detention by Russia. This Marine will now be reunited with his family and get the medical treatment that he needs. Ambassador John Sullivan should be commended for the invaluable work he did in freeing Trevor. 1/x

— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) April 27, 2022

After Trevor’s release, the Reeds got a call from Cruz, and Joey was unsparing in his response:

“And I told him right on the phone, I said, ‘Where have you been for the last two and a half years?'” Joey Reed said. “I hit him point blank: ‘We are not appreciative.’ He said, ‘Well, anything I can do,’ and I said, ‘We said we needed your help two and a half years ago, not now.'”

Reached for comment by the News, Cruz issued a statement that his office was “repeatedly advised by Administration officials that my taking a public role in this specific case would be counterproductive and that because of my role fighting to stop the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, leaders in Russia may well have linked the two issues,” which “would have endangered Trevor and delayed his release.”

Cruz added that he was “very sorry that Trevor’s family interpreted this as not prioritizing his release.”

The Reeds were unmoved by Cruz’s response, pointing out other lawmakers like Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), the ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who was also “a giant, loud, outspoken critic of Putin and Nord Stream 2, and he’s been a giant, public voice for our son.”

They also lauded Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), another vocal Putin critic, for his constant entreaties to the Biden White House to negotiate for Trevor’s release, including sponsoring a Senate resolution that passed unanimously last summer.

Another damning observation came from University of Texas at Austin Professor Jeremi Suri, who teaches history and public policy and pointed out that while it was “not uncommon” for the State Department to ask politicians to hold their tongues publicly to avoid interfering with behind-the-scenes diplomatic negotiations, Cruz had repeatedly ignored such requests in the past, especially since Biden became president.

“Oftentimes, the State Department does ask senators and members of the House to quiet down on certain things, but rarely, rarely if ever, has Senator Cruz followed that,” said Suri, pointing out Cruz’s public comments regarding several other Americans detained abroad. “So it would be strange if in this case, he listened.”

The professor also dismissed Cruz’s portrayal of himself as a major Putin adversary: “He is not held in a special category by Russian diplomats, I can tell you that as a fact.”

UPDATE 4:00 pm ET: A reader who asked to remain anonymous flagged this clip of Joey Reed on MSNBC’s Hallie Jackson Reports last week:

In the clip, Reed praised his congressional representative, Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX) for his “great help,” as well as McCaul and Cornyn, for their support and efforts to bring his son home.

“We had Senator Cornyn who’s helped us with many things, introduced resolutions in Congress, and he’s talked to us personally many times and said ‘what can I do to help?'” said Reed.

“And then we had our other Senator, Ted Cruz –” he paused a moment before continuing, “and I don’t think I can use the proper language on national TV to explain our feelings toward Senator Cruz.”

“Why?” replied Jackson, clearly taken aback. “That seems intense.”

Reed explained that Cruz was the first person the family had contacted “because he was the most well known representative in Texas.” Cruz’s staff came back to them after contacting the State Department “and said, well, sometimes Americans get detained in Russia.”

“That was their answer,” Reed continued, and after Cornyn had stepped in “and talked to us and said I’m going to introduce a resolution,” Cruz’s staff called them and said “Putin hates Senator Cruz and if he gets involved he could endanger your son.”

Cruz had called the house after their son was freed, Reed said, to “congratulate” them, and he told the senator the family could have used his help earlier.

Reed was unconvinced by Cruz’s excuse, and told Jackson that he said to Cruz, “Michael McCaul speaks out against Putin every day, and I said, and you never did. I watched the committee meetings where my son was discussed in Foreign Relations and you never said a peep, all you were concerned about was Nord Stream 2.”

Watch the video above, via MSNBC.