WATCH: Cruz calls on House to impeach federal judge over subpoenas of Republicans

By Andrew Rice
The Center Square

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on Wednesday called on the U.S. House of Representatives to impeach a federal judge involved in an investigation into President Trump’s 2020 election loss

Cruz said Judge James Boasberg, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., signed an order preventing AT&T, Cruz’s phone provider, from telling the senator about a subpoena of his phone records.

Cruz and eight other senators had their phone records subpoenaed as part of an investigation into lawmakers involvement with the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.

Cruz said Boasberg justified the order under what the judge wrote were “reasonable grounds” that the Texas senator would destroy or tamper with evidence in the Biden Administration’s investigation of the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.

“There is precisely zero evidence to conclude that I am likely to destroy or tamper with evidence or to intimidate potential witnesses,” Cruz said.

AT&T ultimately declined to comply with the subpoena for Cruz’s phone records based on protections provided through the speech and debate clause in Article I of the Constitution. Cruz now joins a list of eight Republican U.S. senators whose phone records were subpoenaed in connection with the Jan. 6 investigation.

Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.; Ron Johnson, R-Wis.; Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn.; Josh Hawley, R-Mo.; Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo.; Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska; and Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., also had their phone records subpoenaed in the investigation, according to a Senate press release.

“This order is an abuse of power, this order is a weaponized legal system,” Cruz said. “My assumption is Judge Boasberg printed these things out like the placemats at Denny’s.”

Cruz called on Boasberg to receive sanctions in federal court for blocking the notice of phone record subpoenas.

“If a judge signs an order reaching a factual conclusion for which there is zero evidence whatsoever, that judge is abusing his power,” Cruz said.

Former special counsel Jack Smith, the FBI and the Department of Justice spent thousands of dollars to investigate Republican lawmakers as part of a campaign pursuing Trump’s 2020 election loss, according to whistleblower-sourced records made public on Wednesday, The Center Square reported.

In a news conference Wednesday, lawmakers said the Biden administration’s investigation potentially targeted 156 conservatives and conservative organizations.

“There will be accountability for these zealots who wanted to corrupt the Department of Justice and corrupt the judiciary in order to try to attack their enemies list,” Cruz said.