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Fact check: Video shows Ted Cruz questioning Alejandro Mayorkas, not Merrick Garland

Ana Faguy   | Paste BN

The claim: Video shows Ted Cruz saying Merrick Garland will 'rot in jail'

Some social media users are sharing a video they claim shows Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, saying Attorney General Merrick Garland will "rot in jail."

"'You Will Rot In JAIL' - Sen Ted Cruz LEAKS New Evidence IMPLICATING Merrick Garland," reads the caption of the video in an Oct. 5 Facebook post. 

The video was viewed more than 60,000 times in six days.

But the claim is false. The video actually shows Cruz and Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., questioning Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. 

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Paste BN reached out to the user who shared the claim for comment.

Video shows senators questioning Mayorkas

Cruz does not say Garland will "rot in jail," at any point in the more than 16-minute video. Garland does not appear in the video, nor is he mentioned. 

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Instead, the video features two clips of committee hearings merged together. The first is from a November 2021 Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing in which Cruz questioned Mayorkas about family separation at the U.S.-Mexico border. The second clip shows Johnson questioning Mayorkas about the causes of the border crisis at a Homeland Security budget request hearing in May.

Our rating: False

Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that a video shows Cruz saying Garland will "rot in jail." The video shows Cruz and Johnson questioning Mayorkas. At no point in the video does Cruz mention Garland. 

Our fact-check sources:

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