During a somewhat recent hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) conducted himself in a familiarly antagonistic fashion and complained to high heaven about the handling by Justice Department authorities of protests that targeted U.S. Supreme Court Justices. The protests were over the court’s decision to undo national legal protections for abortion.
Cruz was speaking with Lisa Monaco, a leading official in the Department of Justice’s criminal justice wing. In short, he alleged a politically motivated intention to let protesters evade supposedly warranted prosecution and mischaracterized evident directions associated with the 24/7 security detail that had been dispatched for the judges. The directions he had on hand outlined that participating personnel would not be prioritizing making arrests. That is not the same thing as just ignoring the law, which Cruz alleged was happening.
On the other side, the Senator accused Monaco of dedicating no resources whatsoever to the protection of individuals characterized as perceived political adversaries of the Biden administration, which is a flatly false characterization of the work of the Department of Justice. In more direct terms, Cruz also alleged the flip side of that, meaning that the Justice Department under Attorney General Merrick Garland’s leadership has allegedly conducted what amounts to the harassment and antagonism of political opponents of Biden’s team.
Monaco explained in the hearing the actual facts of what the Justice Department did to protect the Supreme Court judges. “I’m familiar with the fact that the U.S. Marshals Service director has been explicit, has been clear that the Attorney General has repeatedly directed him to enforce all federal laws including 1507 and that his number one priority and that of his many deputies assigned to a 24/7 security presence is to protect the life, the safety, the property of the Justices and their families,” Monaco explained.
Watch Cruz’s angry meltdown below:
