Posted on 03/27/2016 12:05:07 PM PDT by Mensius
Phil Houston is CEO of QVerity, a training and consulting company specializing in detecting deception by employing a model he developed while at the Central Intelligence Agency. He has conducted thousands of interviews and interrogations for the CIA and other federal agencies. His colleague Don Tennant contributed to this report.
The eyebrow-raising story that appeared earlier this week in the National Enquirer, citing claims that Sen. Ted Cruz had engaged in five extramarital affairs, drew a sharp response by the Republican presidential contender. Sharp as it was, however, it was strikingly weak in terms of denial, and strong in terms of attack. And that combination is a telltale sign of deception that leads us to conclude that this is a matter that warrants further investigation.
The statement that Cruz released on his Facebook page on Friday immediately drew our attention:
“I want to be crystal clear: these attacks are garbage. For Donald J. Trump to enlist his friends at the National Enquirer and his political henchmen to do his bidding shows you that there is no low Donald won’t go. These smears are completely false, they’re offensive to Heidi and me, they’re offensive to our daughters, and they’re offensive to everyone Donald continues to personally attack. Donald Trump’s consistently disgraceful behavior is beneath the office we are seeking and we are not going to follow.”
Subsequently speaking about the matter, Cruz echoed that sentiment, with even more intensity (you can watch below). He said:
“The National Enquirer published a story. It is a story that quoted one source on the record: Roger Stone, Donald Trump’s chief political advisor. Let me be clear, this National Enquirer story is garbage. It is complete and utter lies. It is a tabloid smear, and it is a smear that has come from Donald Trump and his henchmen. It is attacking my family, and what is striking is Donald’s henchman, Roger Stone, had for months been foreshadowing that this attack was coming. It’s not surprising that Donald Trump’s tweet occurs the day before the attack comes out. And I would note that Mr. Stone is a man who has 50 years of dirty tricks behind him. He’s a man for whom a term was coined for copulating with a rodent. Well let me be clear: Donald Trump may be a rat, but I have no desire to copulate with him. And this garbage does not belong in politics. The National Enquirer has endorsed Donald Trump, has said he must be President. And so Donald, when he’s losing, when he’s scared, when Republicans are uniting against him, decides to peddle sleaze and slime. You know, Donald is fond of giving people nicknames. With this pattern, he should not be surprised to see people calling him, ‘Sleazy Donald.’”
We should note that these two statements constitute the only material that we currently have at our disposal to analyze, which is far from ideal. Obviously, the more material available for analysis, the greater our confidence in our findings. With that said, however, we were struck by the volume of deceptive behavior that we identified in these statements.
Behaviorally, when the facts are the ally of an individual, he or she almost always tends to focus on the facts of the matter at hand. In this case, if the key fact was that he had not had these affairs, Cruz would almost certainly have been much more strongly focused on the denial. That is, he very likely would have made a point of explicitly stating something along the lines of, “I did not have these affairs.”
Yet at no point in either statement did Cruz say that. He implied it by saying the allegations are false, and that they’re lies, but behaviorally, such statements are not equivalent to saying he never had the affairs. Even if we were to overlook that fact and consider his statements to be a denial, there is an overwhelmingly higher proportion of attack behavior compared to the effort expended at denial. This type of lopsided attack-to-denial ratio is very consistent with what we have historically seen with deceptive people when allegations are levied against them.
Given the lack of additional information upon which to conduct a more comprehensive behavioral analysis, this is nothing more than our initial opinion and assessment, and we will continue to follow this matter very closely. At the same time, we cannot help but conclude at this point that it’s not looking good for Sen. Cruz.
No more than anyone saying vote for Trump (like KKK leader, for example) is directly controlled by Trump.
If you read that part, you saw the disclaimer. You just choose to ignore it.
Most (on FR anyway) never leave their mom’s basement. The remainder will have to get mom to give them a ride to the polls.
Teddy Cruz has turned out to be the biggest disappointment of the primary season. Initially I was unaware of his weirdness, lying and “blame Trump” obsession.
I agree. Cruz was so rattled by being outed, his mind momentarily snapped. He wanted to call Trump a rat, and should have stopped there, but he couldn't stop himself from lashing out. Cruz is obsessed in the belief Trump is the cause of all his woe.
As a senior citizen, my observation of Ted, of lawyers and of politicians is: If they begin a sentence with “Let me be crystal clear” it’s almost certainly a lie. Or they have something to hide. Ted uses that preface a lot. Why would you have to qualify what you’re about to say with, “Let me be crystal clear”? It’s kinda like saying “We’ll be the most transparent administration in history” is a dead giveaway that they will be the most obfuscating in history.
How about “I don’t break my marriage vows. I never cheated on Heidi”?
Weasel words for “We’re still trying to figure out how we’re going to spin this to our advantage.”
That’s a scary thought. Out of 17 candidates, these two are left. I am beside myself. I may have to get snot-slinging drunk to pull the lever in November.
That would be a first for Jeff Roe. Not a resume enhancer.
Despite the National Enquirer being right about Edwards, I find this story about 5-8 different affairs to be pretty hard to believe.
He would have to be some kind of maniac.
More proof, as if we needed any, that it's time for 1. no more professional career politicians in public office, and 2. no more lawyers in public office.
Here is the problem. Trump is leading, at least in part, bc he doesn’t use legal weasel words or parse. He just says it.
Cruz could do the same, for once. How about, “ None of these allegations, nor any similar allegations, can possibly be true. I have been faithful to my wife, and have never betrayed my marital vows.”
The gap between that and what he actually said is the problem—like it or not.
Trump’s accusations are a moving target. Yesterday it was “Cruz did it”. Today it is “Cruz knew about it”. Where will it be Monday? Thursday? The next week?
“Vanities of vanities,” saith the Preacher, “vanity of vanities; all is vanity.
Eccleslastes 1:2
And from what I read originated during Watergate in the Watergate Chronicles.
I didn’t know that and was very cautious investigating it, lol.
It wasn’t the best choice of phrase for Cruz since, although it maybe a common term in political backrooms, the average Joe/Jane doesn’t have a clue what was meant.
You have a point. This could well explain his bizarre behavior.
There is nothing the least bizarre about any of Cruz’ behavior as pertains to adult children of alcoholics. He is textbook all the way.
It’ll be whatever the Donald’s feeble brain decides that morning.
Cruz is obsessed in the belief Trump is the cause of all his woe.
I think I know why.
When Trump came out to run, he had that meeting with Cruz. I think he teamed with him to potentially end up as running mates. It was obvious they never went after each other. At some point, Trump found out Cruz isn’t the decent guy he thought he was. Cruz somehow did something nasty, and Trump started asking around, and that is when Trump found out that no one at all likes the guy. And he keeps telling the world. That doesn’t sit well with narcissists.
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