Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, responded Tuesday to news that Reuters held a report about his competitor Beto O’Rourke’s past affiliation with a computer hacking group until after the 2018 Senate race.
“Hmm. Reuters didn’t want a “scoop” (their word) that Beto may have committed multiple felonies. Instead, they cut a “deal” to keep it secret for over a year until after the Senate election. Query: is there any universe in which they would have cut that deal for a Republican?” he wrote on Twitter.
Hmm. Reuters didn’t want a “scoop” (their word) that Beto may have committed multiple felonies. Instead, they cut a “deal” to keep it secret for over a year until after the Senate election. Query: is there any universe in which they would have cut that deal for a Republican? https://t.co/s4B6HpHncL
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 19, 2019
O’Rourke, a former Democratic representative from Texas who is now a 2020 presidential contender, was a member of the computer hacking group Cult of the Dead Cow in high school, where he penned a series of writings under the name “Psychedelic Warlord.”
After the article was published detailing his involvement with the hacking collective, Reuters filed a follow-up piece explaining how the news organization uncovered O’Rourke’s membership. Reuters said that the author, Joseph Menn, held onto the story all the way through the 2018 senate race where Cruz defeated O’Rourke by a closer than expected margin.
The revelation of his involvement in Cult of the Dead Cow also dug up bizarre writings from his time with the group, leading to the 2020 primary candidate issuing an apology.
Despite Cruz’s Tuesday insinuation that Menn held the details of the story because O’Rourke was a Democrat, Menn said on Twitter that it was because he was writing a book on the organization.
“To be clear, I offered @BetoORourke an embargo because it was for a book I was on leave to write, not for my day job, and because no one else who knew would confirm the facts before the election,” Menn wrote after the story broke.
To be clear, I offered @BetoORourke an embargo because it was for a book I was on leave to write, not for my day job, and because no one else who knew would confirm the facts before the election.
— Joseph Menn (@josephmenn) March 16, 2019
