Sen. Ted Cruz’s campaign fired back at Donald Trump’s claims that the senator’s team wanted to “mislead” voters as Nevadans continued to caucus Tuesday night.
In a letter to the Nevada GOP, Cruz’s team responded to a tweet from the real estate mogul, dismissing his warning to “BE CAREFUL” with Cruz backers at caucus sites as one written by “leftist lawyers” to conjure up “baseless accusations” against his campaign.
The letter echoed previous statements from the Nevada Secretary of State and the state’s GOP, which said that while photography and taking video is illegal, they may “document and immediately report” any suspicious activity.
“We note the affirmations of both the Nevada Republican Party and the Nevada Secretary of State late today of our position and understanding of the law,” said Cruz counsel Chris Gober. “The Nevada Republican Party, for example, affirmed that ‘members of the general public may observe the caucusing process and encourages any individual who observes any suspicious conduct to immediately notify precinct and/or party leaders,’ but that ‘no member of the general public shall be permitted to photograph, film or otherwise record the caucusing process…’ Indeed, this was precisely the spirit of our note to supporters, and we will instruct them accordingly.”
“As to the misleading allegations leveled by Mr. Trump’s counsel, the Cruz campaign was simply urging its supporters to do nothing more than observe, report, and document, if possible, questionable behavior at caucus sites,” Gober continued. “Rather than welcoming such vigilance, especially in light of the history of the Nevada caucuses, Mr. Trump has instead chosen to tout an Obama Administration dictate issued on the eve of the 2012 election.”
“No doubt, the authors of this order are the same group of leftist lawyers in Obama’s Justice Department who dismissed intimidation charges against the pro Obama New Black Panther Party members accused of threatening voters and the same lawyers who have been fighting common sense voter identification rules,” Gober wrote. “Counsel’s reliance on the Obama Administration’s so called voter protection mandates to level an underhanded political attack is a telling indication of how low Mr. Trump is willing to sink to make baseless allegations in exchange for headlines.”
The Cruz camp’s response followed up on multiple attacks from Trump over the past day or two, which kept up Tuesday as Trump called the Texas senator a “weak little baby” during a pre-caucus rally.
