Ted Cruz nails the lawyers' trick that 'deceptive' Democrats are using in the impeachment trial

With the precision of a highly trained attorney, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz dismantled on Saturday some of the major fallacies in the Democrats' impeachment case.

In an episode of "Verdict with Ted Cruz," the Cuban-American Republican senator from the Lone Star State broke down the old lawyers' trick that Democrats employed in their closing statements before the Senate.

Asked by Daily Wire host Michael Knowles if the Democrats' arguments were deceptive, Cruz's answer was unequivocal: "Yes ... and they were deceptive using lots of different tools."

Cruz continued, "Here's a particular logical construct that the House managers use to be deceptive. They used this several times, and it's a logical construct of 'X, not Y.'"

The Democrats' tools of deception

The Texas senator went on to explain what he means by "X, not Y" and illustrate the different rhetorical tools that Democrats are using to deceive senators and the American public:

They say, for example, that "President Trump and Republicans bought the narrative that Ukraine, and not Russia, interfered in the 2016 election." Now, X is right, Ukraine did interfere in 2016. The lie, the deception, is the "not Y." ... It is obvious that Russia ... did interfere in 2016 ... that happened, and anyone who looks at the evidence recognizes that. The fact that Russia did [interfere] doesn't mean no other country did.

Knowles noted, "It's true that the Republicans are saying that Ukraine interfered, but it's not true that Republicans are also saying, 'Therefore, Russia did not interfere.'"

"And it would be false," Cruz responded. "If we said 'Russia did not interfere,' that's a false statement."

Cruz then delivered another example of how the House managers are using misleading arguments.

What the House managers said over and over and over again is: "The president wanted the announcement of an investigation and not an actual investigation." X, and not Y. There's lots of evidence Trump wanted an investigation announced. There is zero evidence that Trump didn't want an actual investigation. And the House managers asserted over and over and over again "an announcement, and not an actual investigation." They've never cited any evidence whatsoever. By the way, think about it, in what universe would Trump not want an investigation?

A 'lawyerly sleight of hand'

The Daily Wire host observed the notion that Trump only wanted an announcement of an investigation "makes no sense."

"The Democrats' trick here is that they're making a true statement, and they're using the true statement to cover up for the false statement that they say immediately afterward? Knowles asked,

"Yes, and the media does this all the time," Cruz stated, adding, "That logical construct, 'X and not Y,' is a real giveaway that they're engaging in lawyerly sleight of hand."

Cruz also noted that "X and not Y" is a go-to trick used by House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff (D-Calif.).

"By the way," he added, "Adam Schiff says it very smoothly, he says it smiling, and to date, I haven't seen anyone actually contradicting it and pointing out that half of that sentence is total deception."

Knowles, who was noticeably impressed by the senator's analysis, observed, "That's an incredibly deceptive trick."

"There's a reason lawyers are so beloved," a smiling Cruz sarcastically quipped.

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