Cruz blasts Houston mayor for ‘grotesque abuse of power’

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is assailing Houston’s mayor for seeking to obtain pastors’ sermons through a subpoena.

“The government has no business asking pastors to turn over their sermons,” Cruz said Wednesday. “These subpoenas are a grotesque abuse of power, and the officials who approved them should be held accountable by the people. The Mayor should be ashamed.”

{mosads}Houston has subpoenaed the sermons of conservative pastors that oppose a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equal rights ordinance.

“The City of Houston’s subpoenas demanding that pastors provide the government with copies of their sermons is both shocking and shameful,” Cruz said. “This is wrong. It’s unbefitting of Texans, and it’s un-American.” 

Houston Mayor Annise Parker is openly gay and supported the city measure that bans discrimination against the LGBT community. Conservative Christians have sued the city over the ordinance that prohibits employment and housing discrimination, despite the measure including an exemption for religious institutions.

As part of the lawsuit, the city’s attorney has requested the sermons of conservative pastors, who might have preached in opposition to the ordinance and Parker’s election.

Cruz is considered a potential GOP presidential nominee for 2016.

“I’m proud to stand with the pastors,” Cruz said. “Religious liberty is the very first protection in the Bill of Rights, the foundation of all of our liberties.”