May 9, 2017Gronda Morin

aside The Tête-à-Tête Between Senator Cruz And Sally Yates, Where Ms. Yates Proved Her Mettle

You know the guy who thinks he is the smartest guy in the room and he lets every one know this with his smugness. This description aptly fits the character in this play who is Senator Ted Cruz of the US Senate.

The setting is the Senate hearing room on 5/8/17 where another key player was testifying. She is the former acting Attorney General Sally Yates who was fired on January 30, 2017 after she had informed the White House about how the president’s National Security Adviser General Mike Flynn had been compromised by the Russians; and after she had declined to have her office defend the president’s original travel ban because of its unconstitutionality.

During the hearing, the Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) along with others were trying to portray Ms. Yates as a partisan. She has been a highly regarded career prosecutor with no political aspirations who had been hired under a republican administration. She has prosecuted high level folks from both sides of the aisle.

The following article tells the story of how the tête-à-tête went between Senator Ted Cruz and Sally Yates…

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Former NIA head James Clapper/ former Attorney General Sally Yates

On 5/8/17, Allan Smith of AOL News describes the legal battle in the following report,  “Sally Yates and Ted Cruz get into heated battle over Trump’s immigration ban.”

Excerpts:

“Former acting Attorney General Sally Yates and Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas got into a heated exchange Monday (5/8/17) over President Donald Trump’s stalled executive order barring travel from several majority-Muslim countries.”

CRUZ: “Cruz began an exchange during a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing by citing a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which provides the president with broad power to suspend the entry of foreigners he believes would be detrimental “to the interest of the” US.”

CRUZ: “Would you agree that that is broad statutory authorization?”

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Getty Images

YATES: “I would, and I am familiar with that”  “And I’m also familiar with an additional provision … that says no person shall receive preference or be discriminated against in issuance of a visa because of race, nationality, and place of birth. That I believe was promulgated after the statute that you just quoted. And that’s been part of the discussion with the courts … whether this more specific statute trumps the first one that you described.”

“She said her original concern was not whether the executive order fit within the act, but whether it was constitutional.”

CRUZ: “Cruz fired back, saying her points would be the “arguments that we can expect litigants to bring — partisan litigants who disagree with the policy decision of the president.”

“He then cited a Department of Justice issuance from the Office of Legal Counsel that approved the order “with respect to form and legality.”

“That is a determination from OLC on January 27 that it was legal,” Cruz said. “Three days later, you determined, using your own words, that ‘although OLC had opined on legality, it had not addressed whether it was wise or just.'”

Image result for photos of sally yates at senate hearingYATES: “Yates added that she said in the same directive that she was not convinced the executive order “was lawful.”

“I also made the point that the office of OLC looks purely at the face of the document and again makes a determination as to whether there is some set of circumstances under which some portion of that EO would be enforceable, would be lawful,” she said. “They importantly do not look outside the face of the document. And in this particular instance, particularly where we were talking about a fundamental issue of religious freedom, not the interpretation of some arcane statue, but religious freedom, it was important for us to look at the intent behind the president’s actions.”

“And the intent is laid out in his statements,” she said.”

CRUZ:” Cruz then added a final question, asking Yates if she was aware of any similar situation in the DOJ’s history in which an attorney general ordered the department not to follow a policy that had been approved by the OLC.”

YATES: “I’m not,” she said. “But I’m also not aware of a situation where the OLC was advised not to tell the AG about it until after it was over.”

23 comments

  1. Could one be correct to question how Sen Cruz (a leader of the American Taliban) would have responded if the ban had been on Christians from Germany, or Italy or any other nation that is predominately fair skinned and blue eyed? I have often wondered how a state with such a diverse ethnic population could have been seized and held hostage by such people as Cruz, Abbot, and Rick Perry. Perhaps we could talk Cruz into rethinking his Canadian citizenship, or would that be unfair to Canada?

    Liked by 1 person

    • Dear Crustyolemothman,

      Sen. Cruz is not being intellectually honest but he is basing his analysis on his rigid right wing ideology. And no the president does not have so much power where his work product cannot be questioned. The US CONSTITUTION TRUMPS THE POWER OF THE US PRESIDENCY.
      Ciao, Gronda

      Like

    • Dear Horty,

      I love the title. You are so right. She was the titan who was not intimidated in the least by the likes of Senator Cruz.

      As always, thanks a million times over for all of your support and for this reblog.

      Hugs, Gronda

      Liked by 1 person

    • Dear CarolMaeWay,

      You are right. I am sure that Senator Cruz would have liked to change the focus by painting Ms. Yates as a partisan with an agenda but he misplayed his hand. She trumped him bigly.

      Ciao, Gronda

      Liked by 2 people

  6. Reblogged this on Filosofa's Word and commented:
    Yesterday, former acting Attorney General Sally Yates testified before Senate Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on crime and terrorism, the committee that is investigating ties between the Trump administration and Russian government. Former presidential candidate and current senator from Texas, Ted Cruz, apparently thought he would discredit Ms. Yates, but he should have thought a bit harder, as he left the hearing with egg on his face, courtesy of Ms. Yates. Friend and fellow-blogger Gronda Morin wrote an excellent article about the event, so please take a moment to read her enlightening post. Thank you, Gronda for this post and permission to re-blog!

    Liked by 1 person

    • Dear Jill,

      Why aren’t you resting?

      I love your write-up. I think Senator Cruz getting his just desserts by Sally Yates was everybody’s favorite part of the Senate hearing.

      As usual, thanks a million times over for your support and for this reblog.

      Hugs, Gronda

      Like

  7. Gronda, I found Yates to be a very credible professional. While Ted Cruz has tended to be a grandstander, which is one of the reasons he is one of the least liked colleagues in Congress. Keith

    Liked by 1 person

  8. I’d just like to thank you, dear America, for making me feel that our barmy political manoeuvrings over here are really quite normal and ordinary 😉 And then offer you my serious sympathy 😦

    Liked by 1 person

    • Dear Memoirsofahusk,

      Welcome!!

      The USA is going through a dark period which goes to show, no country is immune from having a fool as its leader with sycophants to cover up/ fix the messes.

      What we have is the US constitution which gives “we the people” enough power to fight back but this process takes time. Time will tell as to how we prevail.

      Thanks for your sympathy. No, we are not alone.

      Thanks for stopping by and Ciao, Gronda

      Like

    • Dear Patriciaruthsusan,

      Welcome! No, while he may be smug, he is smart enough to know when he has been outwitted.He may have thought that he was setting up Ms. Yates, she definitely returned the favor.

      Thanks for stopping by and Hugs, Gronda

      Like

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