Justice Corrupted: How the Left Weaponized Our Legal System
By Ted Cruz
(Regnery Publishing, 256 pages, $30)

What is the meaning behind Lady Justice? Some might see her bronze skin and posture and say that she embodies some archaic belief system from a bygone era, but in truth she stands for something much more majestic and enlightening. Carrying her sword in her right hand and scales in her left, Lady Justice stands proudly while blindfolded to all in her presence. In her blindness, Lady Justice administers punishment with her sword when guilt is proven and uses the scales to demonstrate her fairness in all her judgments.

The presence of Lady Justice has served as the quintessential personification of the foundational principle of America’s judicial system: All are equal before the law. While Lady Justice’s blindness has often provided fair judgements, there are those on the left who have begun to remove Lady Justice’s blindfold and deflower her virtue for power.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), in his latest book, Justice Corrupted: How the Left Weaponized Our Legal System, gives an insider’s insight into the Left’s infiltration and manipulation of America’s legal institutions.

Cruz takes the audience under his wing and presents his case, both personal and revealing, as to the importance of and damage caused by the Left’s takeover of our nation’s legal institutions. For Cruz, the emphasis on the idea that justice is blind is not merely a simple proverb but one that is interwoven into America’s existence. As Cruz states, “When America came into being, the notion of blind justice was a radical concept.” Documents such as the Magna Carta (1215), the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Judiciary Act of 1789 illustrate that blind justice was not just radical but revolutionary in the eyes of the framers. It would be the framers’ beliefs and political genius that would thus become the target of those on the left in their bid for absolute power.

The origins of the ongoing progressive manipulation of the judicial system may come as a bit of a surprise for Cruz’s audience. In his chapter “Enemies,” the senator reveals that part of today’s standard political strategy of targeting opponents and using illicit methods of intimidation does not stem purely from the Left but was also influenced by a man of the right, former President Richard Milhous Nixon. According to Cruz, Nixon had developed a reputation for holding grudges against those who opposed him or against those he thought might oppose him, even going so far as to write their names down on legal pads with the titles of “The Freeze List” and “[E]nemies.” Through documentation and inside research, Cruz unveils Nixon’s willingness to engage in covert activities within agencies and the White House to intimidate his political opponents. While Cruz does mention that other presidents, such as Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy, engaged in similar political intimidation, he emphasizes that Nixon’s actions created the outline for what today’s progressives use within all levels of government.

Cruz exposes the internal and external sources upon which the Left has based its success. From his days as a young student at Harvard Law School in the nineties to his present time in Congress, Cruz has noticed that the Left’s push for concepts such as critical race theory (CRT) and critical legal studies (CLS) in both secondary and higher education is part of their long-term strategy. The Left has made its top priority enforcing CRT and CLS as the official legal framework for future lawyers, judges, district attorneys, and Supreme Court justices. Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, and newly instated Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson are just a few of the far-left radicals who Cruz mentions as having embraced the CLS and CRT mindset.

Beyond the progressives’ efforts to radicalize the youth, those already within America’s agencies have taken advantage of their posts. The Left’s consolidation within the IRS, FBI, CIA, and other governmental organizations has allowed progressives to crack down on any opposition they perceive to be a threat to their agenda. From exploiting the complexity of America’s tax code to fabricating falsified information, the Left has tried to silence many conservative voices, including Dinesh D’Souza, a political commentator; Lewis “Scooter” Libby, former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney; and Catharine Engelbrecht, founder of True the Vote. Additionally, Cruz gives an in-depth description of the Left’s attempt to forcefully remove former President Donald J. Trump from the political scene during Crossfire Hurricane and the days following the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

While the Left has primarily targeted conservative individuals and groups, it is more than willing to intimidate its own. U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) became the prime target of the Obama administration when he announced his opposition to the Iran nuclear deal in 2015. In response, the Obama administration sent U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and the Department of Justice to muzzle Menendez’s opposition by conducting tactics similar to those that would later be used against Trump with the Steele dossier. As Cruz states:

Much like the Steele Dossier, the rest of the CNN report (based on the DOJ) included salacious and unverified details. There was a rumor, for instance that Senator Menendez had “solicited prostitutes in the Dominican Republic,” and that he had carried out affairs with three mistresses. To anyone reading, it was meant to portray Menendez as a corrupt politician who could not be trusted; at the very least, it was certain to undermine and take the focus off his criticism of the Iran nuclear deal.

Menendez prevailed despite progressives’ best efforts to snuff out his resistance, and the leftist inquisition against him ceased in 2018.

Justice Corrupted is timely and a must read for all Americans, one that does exceptionally well at exposing the Left’s corruption within America’s legal system. Cruz succeeds in making his case clear to his readers and provides them with a game plan for restoring trust: “[F]illed with hope, I know that only We the People can stop it.”

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