Cruz Wrong on Sandy Relief

Sen. Ted Cruz wrongly claimed that a 2013 Hurricane Sandy relief bill was “filled with pork and unrelated spending,” estimating that “two-thirds of what was spent in that bill had little or nothing to do with Hurricane Sandy.”

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, whose state was heavily affected by Sandy, called that claim “an absolute falsehood” and then accused Cruz of repeating “reprehensible lies.”

We wouldn’t use the “L” word, but we do find that at least two-thirds of the bill was related to Hurricane Sandy — the opposite of what Cruz said.

Cruz is now dealing with hurricane relief efforts in his home state of Texas, after Hurricane Harvey made landfall on Aug. 25 as a category 4 storm. In the days since, the storm has dumped more than 50 inches of rain in some parts of Houston. There are at least 30 confirmed or suspected deaths due to the storm, reports the New York Times.

The Washington Post Fact Checker looked at Cruz’s claim and found little in the Sandy relief bill that could be considered pork-barrel spending, or “local members of Congress spending on their pet projects,” as Cruz also said.

Cruz’s office later told the that the senator was referring to non-emergency spending in the bill, not pork, when he used the two-thirds figure. And a