'He was a crook': Ted Cruz jabs Trump nominee for defending Richard Nixon

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) took a shot at Monica Crowley, President Donald Trump's nominee for Chief of Protocol, after she spent years defending former President Richard Nixon.

While introducing Crowley at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Cruz noted that Crowley had disagreed with a book he wrote where he called Nixon a "crook."

"At just 22 years old, Monica was hired as a research assistant under President Richard Nixon, and she remained quite close to President Nixon, and I will say to this day both Monica and Hugh Hewitt are angry at me because I wrote a book chapter blasting Nixon as a crook," Cruz said. "I apologize, Monica, but he was a crook."

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For her part, Crowley argued that she was "profoundly inspired" by Nixon despite accusations related to the Watergate break-in, accepting bribes, abuse of power, and other crimes.

"I worked closely with him on his final two foreign policy bestsellers and many influential policy speeches, joined his international trips, met with numerous chiefs of state and other high-ranking foreign officials, and served as a sounding board for his groundbreaking thinking on foreign affairs," she recalled. "His extraordinary mentorship and unparalleled real-world experience were invaluable, particularly as I completed my graduate studies in international relations at Columbia University, earning two master's degrees and a doctorate."

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