Reporter schools Ted Cruz to his face as he praises judges Trump appointed
Senator Ted Cruz (BILL CLARK/POOL/AFP)

Congressional Huffington Post reporter Jen Bendery confronted Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on Capitol Hill Tuesday as he raged about President Joe Biden's picks for the federal judicial bench.

According to an online post about the confrontation, Bendery told the senator that many of Donald Trump's nominees were unqualified.

"Ackchyually (sic)," Bendery cited Cruz as saying, using her token sarcasm, "The caliber of judges that Trump nominated was exceptional."

Bendery cited the American Bar Association, which she said claimed that at least 10 of those candidates were simply unacceptable.

She named Steven Grasz, "Who earned an embarrassing and unanimous 'not qualified' rating for being 'unable to separate his role as an advocate from that of a judge.'"

"There was also Jonathan Kobes, 44, who earned a 'not qualified' rating because he didn't have the experience and 'was unable to provide sufficient writing samples of the caliber required' of a U.S. circuit judge," Bendery explained.

"He could not write, folks," she wrote.

She said Cruz also voted to confirm Trump nominee Lawrence VanDyke, who was trashed by his own colleagues.

She wrote that they described VanDyke as “arrogant, lazy, an ideologue, and lacking in knowledge of the day-to-day practice including procedural rules.”

ALSO READ: Revealed: How South Carolina’s capital city accommodated Trump ‘patriots’

"Then there was Sarah Pitlyk, rated 'not qualified' over her lack of courtroom experience," Bendery continued. "Never tried a case. Never examined a witness. Never took a deposition or argued any motion in a state or federal trial court. The ABA’s rating was unanimous."

They're just a few that made it through Cruz's Judiciary Committee and were approved by the Republicans in the Senate. It leaves out a large list of judiciary candidates "who were even too crazy for Republicans to support," recalled Bendery.

Cruz's response, said Bendery: "ABA is partisan."

See the full comments here.