Ted Cruz's claim on Thursday that he never knew or worked with John Boehner has been called into question following the revelation that the Texas senator once served as the former House speaker's lawyer.
After Boehner criticized Cruz as "Lucifer in the flesh" and a "miserable son of a b****," Cruz responded
by proclaiming, "If I said 50 words in my life to John Boehner, I'd be surprised … I've never worked with John Boehner…. I've never known the man."
But as
the Washington Post reports, Cruz – the second-place candidate in the race for the Republican presidential nomination – once worked as Boehner's lawyer.
In 1998, Boehner, then House Republican Conference chairman, sued Rep. Jim McDermott, a Washington Democrat, for allegedly violating wiretapping laws by leaking a private phone chat between Boehner and then-Speaker Newt Gingrich to the press.
The Post says Cruz defended Boehner publically after he used the wiretapping case to help raise money for his legal bills.
"The fund-raising letter is much ado about nothing," Cruz told
the Seattle Times at the time.
"Congressman McDermott has consistently attempted to delay the litigation and drive up the expense. It is reasonably expected that Congressman Boehner will use the means at his disposal to raise the funds to pursue this lawsuit."
And in a 2014 appearance on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," Boehner, who was then House speaker, said: "Ted Cruz used to be my attorney a long time ago. A good guy. I don't always agree with him, but he's a good guy."
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