Trevor Reed's father: Ted Cruz 'didn't do anything' to free son from Russian prison

U.S. Marine Corps veteran Trevor Reed was recently freed from a Russian prison but his father said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) was no help in the return of his son.

“He didn’t do anything,” said Joey Reed said, according to The Dallas Morning News. “He’s an embarrassment to the state of Texas, let me just say that. I don’t care what or who runs against him, I will work for their campaign to defeat that son of a b*tch.”

The veteran's father praised Republican lawmakers who helped, including Sen. John Cornyn and Reps. August Pfluger and Michael McCaul.

"Cruz’s office partly confirms the Reeds’ account," the paper reported. "The senator refrained from taking a public stance on Trevor Reed’s captivity out of concern for antagonizing Russian strongman Vladimir Putin. But, aides said, that doesn’t mean he wasn’t working behind the scenes."

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Cruz told the Morning News that his decision was strategic.

“We were repeatedly advised by Administration officials that my taking a public role in this specific case would be counterproductive, and that because of my role fighting to stop the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, leaders in Russia may well have linked the two issues,” Cruz said. “That would have endangered Trevor and delayed his release.”

Joey Reed recalled that he repeatedly reached out to Cruz's offices to plead for assistance but was told by a staffer that speaking out "will hurt your son."

After Trevor Reed was released, Joey Reed said that he received a call from Cruz.

“And I told him right on the phone, I said, ‘Where have you been for the last two and a half years?’” Joey Reed remembered. “I hit him point blank: ‘We are not appreciative.’ He said, ‘Well, anything I can do,’ and I said, ‘We said we needed your help two and a half years ago, not now.’”

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