Sen. Cruz Calls Out Utter Hypocrisy of the Left During SCOTUS Judicial Ethics Hearing

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) today called out Senate Democrats and their corporate media enablers during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Supreme Court Ethics Reform. Specifically, Sen. Cruz highlighted the hypocrisy of the Judiciary Committee Democrats’ attacks on Justice Clarence Thomas by pointing out the regular domestic and international trips taken by liberal Supreme Court justices, some funded by politically active liberal billionaires.  Cruz also noted that Democrat Senators shamefully threatened to withdraw funding for security for the Justices at the Supreme Court and at their homes, if the Court did not implement the rules the Democratic Senators demanded. 

Sen. Cruz said:

 

“This is not about judicial ethics. This is not about rules that should apply to judges across the board, we could have a reasonable discussion about that. This is about applying a double standard to Clarence Thomas, and only Clarence Thomas.” 

Sen. Cruz has long been a vocal supporter of U.S. Supreme Court Justices receiving adequate protections given their national profile and the threats upon their lives, most recently in the wake of the leak of the Dobbs decision in the summer of 2022.

• Read Sen. Cruz’s op-ed in National Review, “The Left’s Assault on Judicial Independence is Going to Get Someone Killed.”
•  Sen. Cruz called on U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to attend the Dobbs Hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee to discuss intimidation of U.S. Supreme Court Justices.
• Sen. Cruz sent a letter with Senate colleagues condemning Senior Democrat officials for threatening Supreme Court justices.
•  Sen. Cruz aggressively questioned both the Attorney General and the Deputy Attorney General at separate hearings on their failure to make arrests in relation to the coordinated harassment and intimidation campaigns at the Justices’ homes following the leak of theDobbs draft opinion.

For a full transcript of Sen. Cruz’s questioning, please see below:

 

Sen. Cruz:

“In 1991, Justice Clarence Thomas appeared before this committee in one of the most disgraceful performances by the Senate Judiciary Committee in our nation's history. Justice Thomas rightly described the treatment he got from then chairman Joe Biden, and Senate Democrats as a quote, ‘high-tech lynching.’

“It is sad to see 30 years later, this committee is again, engaged in the same despicable tactics. 

“Senate Democrats and their lap dogs in the media are engaged in a two-fold political campaign, number one to delegitimize the Supreme Court of the United States because they are angry that there are a majority of constitutionalists on the court. But number two, very directly, this is a political campaign designed to smear Justice Clarence Thomas, and the reason is simple. The Left despises Clarence Thomas, and they do not despise him because he's a conservative. The Left despises Clarence Thomas because he is a conservative African American. Here's what Clarence Thomas said at that confirmation hearing. He said, ‘if you are a free thinking, African American,’ quote, ‘you will be lynched, destroyed and caricatured by a committee of the U.S. Senate.’

“Well, in three decades, that hasn't changed. It's gotten worse. And to be clear, here's the left's view. I point to one article, just three weeks ago: ‘The Democrats need to destroy Clarence Thomas's reputation. They'll never successfully impeach him.’ 

“But so what? Make him a metaphor for every insidious thing, the far right has done to this country? That's what the Left is trying to do. And I will tell you, if you look at the next that next poster board, the Left has repeatedly attacked Clarence Thomas with a racism. This is a magazine cover that showed Justice Scalia, every bit as conservative as Clarence Thomas, but he's portrayed as the master and Clarence Thomas in a bigoted attack is portrayed as shining his shoes. I'll show you another one. To give you a sense of the racist vitriol from the Left. Here's a racist caricature of Clarence Thomas, ‘Lawn Jockey for the Far Right.’ This is the bigoted contempt the Left has. I'll show you another magazine cover.

“This is how the left views Clarence Thomas. Now it's important for people at home to understand this is not about judicial ethics, you can take those down. This is not about judicial ethics. This is not about rules that should apply to judges across the board, we could have a reasonable discussion about that. This is about applying a double standard to Clarence Thomas, and only Clarence Thomas. The attack that my Democrat colleagues breathlessly repeat is that Clarence Thomas stayed at the vacation home of a very close friend of his a successful Texas businessman, flew on his plane and went on his yacht.

“Well, if that's the standard, going and traveling and being paid for by others, then guess what just about every Supreme Court Justice has done so and done so in much greater numbers. Justice Thomas was appointed in 1991. And the time since then, he's taken 109 reported trips, five international trips.

“Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was appointed in 1993. Two years later in the time she was on the court. She took 157 trips, including 28 international trips.

“Mr. Payne, yes or no. Do you think Ruth Bader Ginsburg was corrupt?”

Mr. Payne:

“No.”

Sen. Cruz:

“No? Nor do I. 

“Ruth Bader Ginsburg was not alone. Justice Stephen Breyer appointed the year later in 1994, took 233 reported trips, including 63 international trips again, yes or no, Mr. Payne, do you think Stephen Breyer was corrupt? 

Mr. Payne:

“No.”

Sen. Cruz:

“Nor do I. I would point out Justice Kagan has done the same thing. Justice Sotomayor has done the same thing. And yet, none of my Democrat colleagues care, because this is a political attack directed at a justice they hate. And by the way, let's spend a moment focusing on Justice Stephen Breyer, a delightful human being, someone I know personally, someone who served decades on the Court. Justice Stephen Breyer repeatedly traveled on the penny of a prominent democratic billionaire, the Pritzker Family. Now, JB Pritzker is the Democrat governor of the state of Illinois, from which our chairman hails, I would be shocked if the chairman of this committee has not had multiple meals with the Pritzker Family.

“Justice Breyer was a longtime member of the board that awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize. But what did that mean? That meant Justice Breyer traveled on the dime of these Democrat billionaires in 2019, Justice Breyer traveled to New York City to Vancouver in Paris in 2018 Justice Breyer traveled to Ireland and Spain and 2016 he traveled to New York, Spain and France. In 2013. He traveled to Norway, Sweden, Denmark, in 2012. He traveled to Beijing and to London.

“All of this paid for by the Pritzker foundation. Now, none of my Democrat colleagues are mad about this. And let me be clear, I'm not suggesting Justice Breyer is corrupt. What I'm suggesting is this committee is corrupt because this is a kangaroo circuit circus. And I will note, we had 15 Senate Democrats, including six members of this committee send a letter to the Appropriations Committee threatening to cut off the funding for security at the Supreme Court. The left is willing to threaten the lives of the justices. Justice Samuel Alito, this weekend in the Wall Street Journal said that the attacks directed at the justices are making them targets of assassination.

“This is disgraceful.

“Every senator who signed this letter should be embarrassed. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that this letter be admitted into the record and also that the interview with Justice Alito from this weekend be entered into the record.

“Democrats can have disagreements based on law, but this attempt to delegitimize the court this attempt to personally smear Clarence Thomas is dishonest. And everyone in the media echoing it is participating in a shameful reprise of 1991’s high-tech lynching.”

###