Biden pick for counterterror post botched handling of Hezbollah, Cruz says: 'Utterly disqualifying'

close

Video

Cruz spars with Shaheen over Biden counterterrorism pick: 'Utterly disqualifying'

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, lays out his argument against Ambassador Elizabeth Richard's appointment for the post of coordinator of counterterrorism after Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., supports her nomination. (CSPAN)

FIRST ON FOX — Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, clashed with colleague Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., over the nomination of Ambassador Elizabeth Richard for counterterrorism coordinator, saying that multiple failures during her time as ambassador to Lebanon proved "utterly disqualifying" for the role. 

"What did Mrs. Richard do when she was in Lebanon? She pushed for policies to fund and boost the Internal Security Forces (ISF) with American taxpayer dollars," Cruz said during his speech on the Senate floor Wednesday. "She even oversaw the building of the ISF Academy funded by American tax dollars."

"Mr. President, I wish we had a nominee for this post whom I could enthusiastically support," Cruz said. "I wish I were not obliged to come down and object to an extreme nominee, whose record demonstrates she is unfit and unqualified to serve in this post, but unfortunately, President [Joe] Biden has not given me that choice."

Cruz noted the case of Amer Fakhoury, a former U.S. hostage who spent six months detained in Lebanon after a Hezbollah-backed newspaper accused him of torturing Hezbollah and Palestinian prisoners in the 1980s and 1990s. Fakhoury of New Hampshire was never previously accused of the charge, and his family and attorney denied it.

REPUBLICANS DEMAND ANSWERS AFTER TOP OFFICIAL BACKS OUT OF HEARING ON CHINA AHEAD OF BLINKEN TRIP

Fakhoury developed cancer during his incarceration in Beirut, where he was beaten and tortured. Shaheen and Cruz eventually proposed bipartisan sanctions against senior Lebanese officials involved in Fakhoury’s detention, and the State Department pushed for his freedom. 

Ultimately, the Trump administration's pick to replace Richard, Dorothy Shea, lobbied for Fakhoury’s release, and American forces rescued him in March 2020 despite a Hezbollah-affiliated judge attempting to block his release, which was ordered by a military tribunal.

Sen. Ted Cruz (Screenshot/Judiciary Committee)

Fakhoury died five months after his return to the U.S.

His family spoke out in 2022 when news first broke that the Biden administration had nominated Richard to take the role of coordinator for counterterrorism, opposing the nomination and expressing shock that the administration had picked her based on her record in Lebanon. 

BIDEN MOCKED OVER PLANS TO BUILD RAILROAD ‘ACROSS THE INDIAN OCEAN’: ‘BOLD INITIATIVE’

"As the family of the late U.S. hostage, Amer Fakhoury, we are shocked by the news that Ambassador Richard is being confirmed as the next counterterrorism [czar] in the State Department," Fakhoury’s family said in a statement to Fox News last year. "Our father would still be here today if the US embassy under Ambassador [Richard] prioritized an American citizen’s life first instead of catering to the Hezbollah-backed Lebanese government."

Cruz hit on Fakhoury’s story, raising it again Wednesday as part of his defense against Richard’s appointment. He cited the story as an example of Richard acting out of fear rather than doing what was necessary to help Americans abroad in terrorist situations.

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Elizabeth Richard is shown in Beirut on Aug. 14, 2017. (Patrick Baz/AFP via Getty Images)

"Mr. President, why did it take Sen. Shaheen and me coming together on the floor of the Senate to target the Lebanese government and force them to release an American hostage," Cruz said, noted that the U.S. Embassy and Richard "were effectively running interference for the Lebanese government and … for Hezbollah."

Cruz also pointed to Richard’s decision, which one former U.S. official told Politico in 2022 was "perceived as an act of insubordination," to send away a small military force that was deployed to Beirut for protection of the U.S. Embassy after the 2020 assassination of Iranian military leader Qasem Soleimani.

ARKANSAS AG TIM GRIFFIN FORMS GROUP TO CONSIDER POSSIBLE CHANGES TO STATE'S FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT

"She secretly sent them away in defiance of the political leadership of the State Department, and behind the backs of Secretary [Mike] Pompeo and the State Department's No. 2 officer, both of whom had been confirmed by this body," Cruz said. "She secretly sent them away, directly endangering the lives of the men and women in our embassy."

"First and foremost, she said she didn't want to antagonize Hezbollah," Cruz said, citing the Politico report. "Despite threats to the embassy, and despite an obligation to protect the lives of the Americans who work there, Ms. Richard left that exposed and vulnerable because her policy over and over again was to appease and avoid confronting Hezbollah."

Amer Fakhoury after getting U.S. citizenship. (Courtesy of the Fakhoury family)

He also accused Richard of directly funding Hezbollah by supporting the establishment of ISF facilities, which one Lebanon expert called "the Hezbollah auxiliary forces who run counterintelligence for the terror group," doing Hezbollah’s "dirty work" in Lebanon.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

"Having examined Ms. Richard's record, the only conclusion is that her approach to counterterrorism consistently is to downplay terrorism to appease the terrorists and even to fund terrorist groups and their enablers," Cruz said. "That approach is utterly disqualifying for a nominee for coordinator of counterterrorism."

The White House did not respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment by time of publication.

Fox News Digital’s Jessica Chasmar and Ben Evansky contributed to this report.