Reprinted with permission from AlterNet.
Lies are the currency of the American right wing, so ubiquitous in politics and media that many have dubbed the phenomenon a “post-truth” crisis.
So it was genuinely surprising Monday when Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) — himself a hard-line member of the conservative movement and is in many ways a radical figure in his own right — called out a member of his own party for spreading fake news. His denunciation of Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) came in response to tweet thread about the pending criminal justice reform bill in the Senate, which is spurring divisions among members of the Republican caucus.
In his own tweet about the bill over the weekend, Cotton had spread fears about the bill, saying “it gives early release to ‘low level, nonviolent’ criminals like those convicted of assaulting police, even with deadly weapons,” and to “criminals who steal passports & immigration docs from aliens who have been trafficked to keep them in captivity.” He also said there have been no hearings on the bill.
“I highly respect my colleague from Arkansas but everything in his tweet and this thread is 100% Fake News,” Lee said in response to Cotton’s tweets.
He continued:
First, the House Judiciary committee passed the First Step Act out of committee on May 9 of this year, and the Senate Judiciary Committee passed the highly similar Sentencing and Corrections Act out of committee on Feb 15 of this year. These are not new policies. 2/
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) November 19, 2018
Second, and more importantly, the First Step Act does not “give early release” to anyone. Anyone claiming it does, does not understand how the bill works. 3/
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) November 19, 2018
What the First Step Act does do is encourage rehabilitation by incentivizing inmates to participate in recidivism reduction programs by giving them time credits that can help them qualify for prerelease custody. 4/
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) November 19, 2018
Nothing in the First Step Act gives inmates early release. It only incentivizes participation in recidivism reduction programs. At all times the Bureau of Prisons retains all authority over who does and does not qualify for early release. 5/
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) November 19, 2018
If @SenTomCotton has good faith problems with this bill then he should welcome a full and open debate on the Senate floor where he can offer amendments to provisions he finds objectionable. But first this bill needs to be brought to the Senate floor so debate can begin. /END
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) November 19, 2018
It was a stern rebuke to the Cotton, who has a long history of false statements and blatant lies. Cotton is also one of the most anti-immigrant members of Congress and has preposterously suggested that the United States has “under-incarceration” problem. In light of the fact that the United States has one of the largest incarcerated populations per capita in the world, and given the vast racial disparities that plague the system, it’s unreasonable to interpret his views as driven by anything other than deep-seated racism.
Cody Fenwick is a reporter and editor. Follow him on Twitter @codytfenwick.
