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INVESTIGATIONS These 1,941 historic Ted Cruz emails show how Washington works
INVESTIGATIONS
These 1,941 historic Ted Cruz emails show how Washington works
Missives offer an unvarnished view of Cruz’s professional life at the Justice Department as his political star rose amid networking, lunches and after-work gatherings.
By Nate Jones
June 18, 2024 at 6:30 a.m. EDT
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https://wapo.st/3Rzsilz
Few public records reveal as much about the work of government officials as their emails. ... Consider the 1,941 emails Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) wrote and received over six months in 2001 while he was associate deputy attorney general at the Department of Justice. These were recently released to The Washington Post in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. ... Cruz’s emails offer a real-time, unvarnished view into his professional life as his political star rose. The correspondence portrays Cruz as a jovial and well-liked colleague, helps explain how Justice Department policy sausage was made, and shows how Cruz helped — and was helped by — political connections.
Because of Cruz’s prominence as a U.S. senator and as a 2016 presidential candidate, I requested these emails in April 2022 after I noticed the National Archives and Records Administration, or NARA, noted on its website that his emails had been accessioned — or formally transferred — to the archives from the Justice Department. ... Some of Cruz’s power as a networker stemmed from the clout of his former boss, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist. At the Supreme Court, Cruz clerked for Rehnquist during the 1996 term and remained active in an email thread among his former clerk colleagues, who referred to Rehnquist as “El Jefe” in their exchanges.
“Always nice to see the CJ’s ex’s make good. ... Look out for us little guys in the field. See you at the reunion in a few weeks,” former clerk Ronald Tenpas wrote Cruz, welcoming him back to D.C. from Texas, where Cruz had been working on the 2000 presidential campaign of George W. Bush. ... From his Justice Department email account, Cruz also promoted the Federalist Society, a Washington-based conservative legal organization. When a colleague asked about getting involved with the group, Cruz effused: “Call Leonard Leo … He’s the Director of the Lawyers’ Division, and a very good guy. He’s a friend; tell him I suggested you call.”
From his Justice Department email account, Ted Cruz promoted the Federalist Society, a Washington-based conservative legal organization at which Leonard Leo, shown in 2016, was a longtime vice president. (Carolyn Kaster/AP)
Leo is now the co-chairman and former executive vice president of the Federalist Society, often credited with helping establish a right-leaning majority on the Supreme Court. ... In February 2001, Cruz invited Leo to meet for lunch — and apprised him of his efforts to get a potential applicant a job at the White House. “Apparently, there are no spots open at the White House, but there might be some possibilities at the agencies, with their respective faith-based offices. Do you have another ... resume that I could forward on?”
{snip}
Do you have a question, comment or FOIA idea? Leave a comment or email me at RevealingRecords@washpost.com.
Share
https://wapo.st/3Rzsilz
By Nate Jones
Nate Jones is the FOIA director for The Washington Post, where he works with reporters to target documents to request, appeal and sue for. Twitter https://twitter.com/FOIANate
These 1,941 historic Ted Cruz emails show how Washington works
Missives offer an unvarnished view of Cruz’s professional life at the Justice Department as his political star rose amid networking, lunches and after-work gatherings.
By Nate Jones
June 18, 2024 at 6:30 a.m. EDT
Share
https://wapo.st/3Rzsilz
Few public records reveal as much about the work of government officials as their emails. ... Consider the 1,941 emails Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) wrote and received over six months in 2001 while he was associate deputy attorney general at the Department of Justice. These were recently released to The Washington Post in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. ... Cruz’s emails offer a real-time, unvarnished view into his professional life as his political star rose. The correspondence portrays Cruz as a jovial and well-liked colleague, helps explain how Justice Department policy sausage was made, and shows how Cruz helped — and was helped by — political connections.
Because of Cruz’s prominence as a U.S. senator and as a 2016 presidential candidate, I requested these emails in April 2022 after I noticed the National Archives and Records Administration, or NARA, noted on its website that his emails had been accessioned — or formally transferred — to the archives from the Justice Department. ... Some of Cruz’s power as a networker stemmed from the clout of his former boss, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist. At the Supreme Court, Cruz clerked for Rehnquist during the 1996 term and remained active in an email thread among his former clerk colleagues, who referred to Rehnquist as “El Jefe” in their exchanges.
“Always nice to see the CJ’s ex’s make good. ... Look out for us little guys in the field. See you at the reunion in a few weeks,” former clerk Ronald Tenpas wrote Cruz, welcoming him back to D.C. from Texas, where Cruz had been working on the 2000 presidential campaign of George W. Bush. ... From his Justice Department email account, Cruz also promoted the Federalist Society, a Washington-based conservative legal organization. When a colleague asked about getting involved with the group, Cruz effused: “Call Leonard Leo … He’s the Director of the Lawyers’ Division, and a very good guy. He’s a friend; tell him I suggested you call.”
From his Justice Department email account, Ted Cruz promoted the Federalist Society, a Washington-based conservative legal organization at which Leonard Leo, shown in 2016, was a longtime vice president. (Carolyn Kaster/AP)
Leo is now the co-chairman and former executive vice president of the Federalist Society, often credited with helping establish a right-leaning majority on the Supreme Court. ... In February 2001, Cruz invited Leo to meet for lunch — and apprised him of his efforts to get a potential applicant a job at the White House. “Apparently, there are no spots open at the White House, but there might be some possibilities at the agencies, with their respective faith-based offices. Do you have another ... resume that I could forward on?”
{snip}
Do you have a question, comment or FOIA idea? Leave a comment or email me at RevealingRecords@washpost.com.
Share
https://wapo.st/3Rzsilz
By Nate Jones
Nate Jones is the FOIA director for The Washington Post, where he works with reporters to target documents to request, appeal and sue for. Twitter https://twitter.com/FOIANate