Cruz requests Garland testify on DOJ steps to protect Supreme Court justices after abortion decision

EXCLUSIVE: Republican Sen. Ted Cruz is requesting Attorney General Merrick Garland come before the Senate Judiciary Committee for a hearing Tuesday to discuss the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Fox News obtained a letter Cruz, R-Texas, sent to committee Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., requesting that Garland come before the panel to "detail the steps the Department of Justice is taking to protect our Supreme Court Justices in the wake of an unprecedented harassment and intimidation campaign." 

Cruz referred to 18 U.S.C. 1507, which criminalizes any attempt to influence a judge in the exercise of his or her duties by picketing them at their home—a law passed in order to allow judges the "freedom to exercise their judicial power free from outside influence or intimidation."

Cruz also cites Article III of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees judicial independence by granting judges life tenure and salary protection to ensure they are not influenced by anything other than the law and facts in the case before them.

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"Unfortunately, despite clear evidence that federal law was violated by mobs of protesters at the Justices’ homes, the head of the Department of Justice, and chief law enforcement officer of the United States, flatly refused to enforce federal law," Cruz wrote.

Cruz noted that several days ago, the Supreme Court Marshal asked Maryland and Virginia officials to "enforce laws that prohibit picketing outside the homes of the Justices who live in the two states."

"Further, the governors of Virginia and Maryland called upon Attorney General Garland to ‘enforce the law as it is written,’" Cruz wrote.

"Attorney General Garland, however, has ignored such calls, doing so with near-tragic results," Cruz added.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh was faced with a death threat. Nicholas Roske, 26, was arrested and charged after he allegedly intended to carry out a murder-suicide plot against Kavanaugh at his Maryland home.

"Intimidation attempts have also occurred at the homes of Justice Alito, Justice Thomas, Justice Barrett and Chief Justice John Roberts," Cruz noted. "In response to these threats, Attorney General Garland merely stated, ‘The Justice Department will not tolerate violence or threats of violence against judges or any other public servants at work, home or any other location.’"

Cruz added: "Attorney General Garland’s refusal to act, however, calls into question the sincerity of this statement."

In a shot at the attorney general, Cruz said he was "quick to condemn parents who attended school board meetings to protest radical policies pushed by some board members."

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"Yet he has shown little urgency to protect Supreme Court Justices despite calls from the Supreme Court Marshal and multiple governors to do so," Cruz wrote. "Attorney General Garland should be asked, under oath, why he refused to act in this instance, as well as detail his plans to uphold judicial independence and the rule of law in the face of future such intimidation campaigns."

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Congress passed a bill that would provide security protection to Supreme Court justices and their families, and President Joe Biden signed that measure into law last month--before the Supreme Court announced its decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. 

The ruling, announced last month, returns the issue of abortion to the states. President Biden has called on Congress to codify protections under Roe v. Wade into federal law.

"Chair Durbin has been clear that we must condemn all violence and threats of violence against public officials in the strongest possible terms—regardless of whether it comes from the right or the left," a spokesperson for Durbin told Fox News Digital.

"Last month, the House approved a bill that unanimously passed the Senate that gives the Supreme Court Police greater discretion to protect the Justices’ families. But it has been more than six months since the Judiciary Committee unanimously reported the Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act, which is being blocked by at least one Republican Senator. The bill is directly responsive to the threats that federal judges face. It would allow judges to safeguard their personal information from being posted on the Internet and would empower the judiciary to monitor online threats."

"The threat to Justice Kavanaugh and the tragic death of Daniel Anderl underscore the need to pass this bipartisan bill quickly and get it signed into law so we can protect all federal judges and their families. Hopefully the Republican Senator who is holding up this bill will reconsider his position," the Durbin spokesperson continued.

DOJ did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment on Cruz's request.