Why, Ted Cruz grilled, “does the Department of Justice pick and choose which laws to enforce, which criminal laws to enforce?” The vocally conservative Texas Senator was rather impolite to Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite, Jr. The DOJ official was hauled in front of the Judiciary Committee to testify about “the lack of arrests made by law enforcement while protesters were demonstrating outside the homes of Supreme Court justices earlier this year.”
Choose only the laws you like
Where in the Constitution, Cruz didn’t come out and ask, does it say you can pick and choose to enforce only the laws you like? He was much more creative than that. “Congress has addressed this issue,” he reminded the bureaucrat. 18 USC 1507 clearly makes it a crime to protest at the home of a Supreme Court Justice while a case is pending.
Cruz demanded to know which part of that law the DOJ doesn’t understand. “Night after night after night, these protesters committed federal crimes on national television. Why has the Justice Department refused to enforce 18 USC 1507?”
Well, Mr. Polite dodged, they did arrest one person. He didn’t say but it was probably the one who tried to assassinate Justice Kavanaugh. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland, Polite corrected the Senator, charged someone.
“So, one person?” Cruz responded. Yep. “To date, there has been one prosecution.” How Cruz pondered, did they manage to choose him out of the masses. “What about the hundreds of others?” the senator quizzed. “All of whom have violated the law.”
The law they wrote isn’t something tricky like the one Mike Pence chickened out of using on January 6. “On the face of it, it’s not complicated. The law is very clear.”
“Why does the Department of Justice pick and choose which laws to enforce, which criminal laws to enforce? Why does it seem to exactly follow the pattern of the partisan preferences of the Biden White House?” Because the Constitution is really toilet paper and our country is being run from Brussels, Polite didn’t admit.
Politics shouldn’t play a role
Polite sidestepped the brutal attack by noting “politics shouldn’t play and does not play any role in our prosecutorial decisions. What I will also add is that our attorney general has increased the U.S. Marshal service resources to protect our Supreme Court justices.”
That’s pretty close to an outright lie and Cruz called him on it. So, if you don’t choose to ignore violations , Cruz probed, why weren’t more people arrested “for violating federal law and why the department is “refusing” to enforce the law.”
Polite insists they don’t choose which laws to enforce but still can’t explain how the ball got dropped. “Respectfully senator, I disagree that we’ve chosen not to enforce it.”
They’ll have to agree to disagree on that because Polite doesn’t have the authority to apologize for his superiors. He “cannot comment” on the “current status” of potential cases even when there aren’t any potential cases.
Oh, by the way, Polite managed to slip in later, that one that they did choose to prosecute, wasn’t under the law Cruz is concerned about. Attempted murder has a different charge.
Senator Cruz wasn’t impressed by the testimony. He knew he was getting nowhere. “I think you need to follow the law,” he opined in closing.
