'It's Indoctrination': Ted Cruz Spars With Advocacy Group Climate Director About Judicial Training

Forbes Breaking News

At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last week, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) spoke about judges receiving education from advocacy groups.

Transcript

00:00of the Communist Party that's trying to take us down.

00:02Thank you, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.

00:08And I would note one of the reasons why the left

00:11and the Chinese Communist resort to litigation

00:13is because their ideas are incredibly unpopular

00:17when the American people vote on them.

00:19So, for example, in the United States Senate,

00:22every Senate Democrat voted in favor of the California waiver

00:27that would effectively ban the internal combustion engine

00:31in 18 states across the country.

00:34Every Senate Democrat voted in favor of it, but you know what?

00:37The citizens aren't voting in favor of it.

00:40They're not campaigning.

00:41We don't see our Democrat colleagues saying

00:43we're going to ban the internal combustion engine.

00:46Even in bright blue states, even in Vermont and Rhode Island,

00:51the voters are not saying, take away the car out of my driveway.

00:54And yet, Democrat officeholders are trying to use government power

00:59to fight the Democrat wishes of their electorate.

01:03General Kobach, let's talk about the courts.

01:07The Climate Judiciary Project, backed by the Environmental Law Institute,

01:11Energy Foundation, and private donors connected to plaintiff's law firms,

01:15has trained over 2,000 judges, many in key jurisdictions

01:18where these climate cases are pending.

01:20Is it appropriate for sitting judges to receive climate science

01:25quote-unquote education from advocacy groups

01:30like the Environmental Law Institute,

01:32groups that are directly tied to the plaintiffs in active litigation?

01:38No, Mr. Chairman.

01:39I do not believe it is any more than it would be appropriate

01:42for a group of justices to go on an extensive training conference

01:48and be trained in how to dispute or defend the fossil fuel industry.

01:56When you have a group of litigants in a pitched legal battle

02:00in approximately three, well, more than three dozen cases,

02:03if we're talking about more than just the ones brought by cities and counties,

02:07the judges are there to be neutral.

02:09And the worst thing I fear going into any case on any issue

02:13is if I know that the judge has already dug in

02:16based on prior things the judge has done or said against me.

02:20So, you know, I don't think it's appropriate for litigants

02:23to be training the judges in essentially what their experts

02:27are going to say in the trial.

02:29Mr. Chairman, may I respond to this as well?

02:32No, because we've got limited time,

02:34if someone else wants to get into it.

02:36General Kobach, isn't it true that...

02:40Actually, go ahead, Mr. Arkush.

02:42Well, I just wanted to say that what Mr. Kobach is saying he opposes

02:46is exactly what's happening from the defense side as well.

02:49The Environmental Law Institute has multiple oil companies on its board,

02:54executives of oil companies, BP and Shell,

02:56and it has counsel representing them in court

03:01in important leadership positions.

03:04So we may be breaking news here.

03:06Are you on behalf of Public Citizen calling for the Environmental Law Institute

03:09to stop training judges and indoctrinating judges?

03:13What I'm saying is it doesn't make any sense to say

03:15that they're indoctrinating judges as some sort of leftist plot.

03:18Let's be clear.

03:19I'm calling for them to stop training judges

03:21because I think they are indoctrinating them.

03:24It's interesting you said that,

03:25but you weren't willing to go to the natural next step of,

03:28therefore, it should stop.

03:30I don't know much about it,

03:31but I do know that BP and Shell are on the board.

03:32Mr. Arkush,

03:34if you believed what you were saying,

03:37you would be willing to call for it to stop.

03:38You're not,

03:39and that suggests you know damn well

03:41what it is that they're training the judges,

03:43and it's indoctrination,

03:44and you don't want it to stop

03:45because you want the judges to be biased

03:47and rule in favor of these crackpot theories.

03:50Now, General Kobach,

03:52I disagree that BP and Shell are on the board of an organization

03:54that judges against them.

03:55Mr. Arkush,

03:56your time is done.

03:57Isn't it true that these programs,

03:59often hosted in conjunction

04:01with the Federal Judicial Center

04:02or the National Judicial College,

04:05can obscure ethics disclosure requirements

04:07because they fall under judicial exemption categories?

04:11Yeah, I think,

04:13Chairman,

04:13you're correct.

04:14There are definite ethical problems,

04:16and in addition to the overarching sort of federal model of ethics,

04:21you also have additional state ethical rules

04:23that may be violated as well.

04:24But, you know,

04:25at the end of the day,

04:27it's judicial neutrality

04:28that is the biggest ethical constraint

04:31on our entire Article III courts and state courts,

04:35and that is the biggest problem I see going into any case.

04:38It's also been reported

04:39that the Chief Justice of the Hawaii Supreme Court

04:42participated in these sessions

04:44at the same time that his court

04:46was reviewing one of these climate lawsuits.

04:48So active litigation

04:50and yet happily being indoctrinated

04:53by interested parties

04:54in an ex-parte setting

04:56where the opposing counsel

04:57had no opportunity

04:58to refute the indoctrination.

05:01Mr. Walter,

05:02the Climate Judiciary Project

05:04tells judges

05:05that climate lawsuits

05:06are a, quote,

05:07unique opportunity for accountability.

05:08Would you call that education

05:11or would you call that

05:12political indoctrination

05:13disguised as training?

05:15Accountability is the standard term

05:18used by political activists

05:19to try to say

05:20we want to hurt those folks

05:22that we're opposed to.

05:23Do you believe Congress

05:25should investigate

05:26whether these trainings

05:27are undermining

05:28the impartiality of the judiciary?

05:30Absolutely, Senator.

05:32Senator Whitehouse.

05:33Well, the funny thing

05:34about this conversation

05:35is that time did not begin

Category

Transcript

Recommended