Monday, Sen. Ted Cruz said that he is impressed by the huge abuse of power that occurred in the FBI and the Department of Justice (DOJ) during the term of former President Obama, according to the inspector general’s new report.
Sen. Cruz appeared on Fox News’ Sean Hannity, and noted that this abuse of power even continued during President Trump’s first two years in office.
Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz’s report determined that, indeed, under the direction of James Comey, the FBI spied on the campaign of then-candidate Donald Trump.
Hannity picked up Cruz’s reactions to the revelations in this report that found up to 17 serious irregularities in the approval of FISA warrants issued by the Department of Justice authorizing the FBI to spy on Donald Trump’s campaign team member Carter Page.
“It is chilling and encouraging,” Cruz said.
“It is stunning the abuse of power that we saw in the Obama administration and sadly it continued over in the deep state for the first couple of years of the Trump administration,” he added.
Sen. Cruz noted that this abuse of power occurred in both the DOJ and the FBI, “They were utterly negligent in ordering the surveillance [and] spying of a presidential nominee and of a sitting president,” Cruz said, adding that this is the “very best interpretation” of these revelations.
“The real interpretation is, these were hardcore political partisans that hated Donald Trump and they were willing and complicit to abuse the power of law enforcement and intelligence and spy on a political opponent,” Cruz said.
However, Sen. Cruz also stressed that the inspector general’s report published yesterday is very encouraging because it’s a step in the direction of making those responsible for these serious irregularities pay for it.
House Intelligence Committee member, Rep. Jim Jordan, said about this report, “The U.S. government’s powerful tools designed and authorized for international intelligence gathering were deployed to monitor the activities of a presidential campaign.”
“This is a grave matter that should deeply trouble Americans of all political stripes. There are many lingering questions, and I expect both Chairman Nadler and Chairwoman Maloney to convene hearings with Inspector General Horowitz as soon as possible,” he said.
Sen. Ted Cruz also added that with this report and President Trump’s failed impeachment, “the media has panicked because what they hoped this impeachment would prove has not been proven.”
“They are like rats abandoning the ship before it sinks,” Sen. Cruz added.
