Sen. Ted Cruz Rafael (Ted) Edward CruzCruz blocks amended resolution honoring Ginsburg over language about her dying wish Trump argues full Supreme Court needed to settle potential election disputes Press: Notorious RBG vs Notorious GOP MORE (R-Texas) late on Monday slammed reports about the 18 seconds he took to answer a question in a Senate hallway about whether a president has the legal authority to pardon himself.

Cruz, a Harvard law graduate and former solicitor general for Texas, called journalists pushing the story “dishonest” and said he was “simply ignoring a question” while late to a meeting.

In audio of the conversation, a reporter is heard asking Cruz about President Trump Donald John TrumpBiden on Trump's refusal to commit to peaceful transfer of power: 'What country are we in?' Romney: 'Unthinkable and unacceptable' to not commit to peaceful transition of power Two Louisville police officers shot amid Breonna Taylor grand jury protests MORE’s assertion that he had the power to pardon himself, a subject many senators were pressed about on Monday.

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Footsteps can be heard as a total of 18 seconds elapses before Cruz offers a response.

“That’s not a constitutional area I’ve studied so I will withhold judgment,” he said.

I ask Ted Cruz if he agrees with Trump that the president can pardon himself. Cruz is silent for eighteen (18!) seconds before telling reporters it’s not a constitutional area he’s studied. — Haley Byrd (@byrdinator) June 4, 2018

After being mocked on social media, Cruz fired back on Twitter in a series of tweets to his 3.22 million followers.

Cruz said that senators ignore questions called out to them in the halls of the Capitol “every single day.”

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Some dishonest journalists have attacked me for "taking 18 seconds" to answer -- without acknowledging that I was walking through the Capitol, late to a meeting, and simply ignoring a question that a reporter had called out at me (as senators do every single day in the Capitol). — Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 4, 2018

On the question of whether a president can pardon himself, we're seeing an abundance of knee-jerk partisanship and dishonest journalism. — Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 4, 2018

Cruz then provided an answer to the question, writing on Twitter that the president has the power to grant pardons except in cases of impeachment and that scholars disagree on whether the president could pardon himself.

If we were actually focusing on the Constitution, the answer would be more complicated. The text of the Constitution provides, the President "shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment." — Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 4, 2018

However, in the 1970s, the Department of Justice did issue a legal opinion that the president cannot pardon himself, relying on the principle that nobody can be the judge in his own case. — Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 4, 2018

That legal principle has a long and venerable history, but it is not reflected in the constitutional text. — Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 4, 2018

Whether the Department of Justice opinion is right is an open legal question, with scholars on both sides of the political spectrum disagreeing in good faith. — Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 4, 2018

Finally, other partisan journalists have attacked me for saying "that is not a constitutional issue I have studied, so I will withhold judgment at this point." That was true then, and is true now. — Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 4, 2018

This is not a question one should answer based on knee-jerk partisanship, as opposed to careful constitutional analysis. — Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 4, 2018

At this point, none of the investigations has demonstrated any criminal conduct needing to be pardoned, as much as those who hate the president might wish otherwise. — Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 4, 2018

The president sparked a firestorm on Monday after saying he had the right to pardon himself.

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As has been stated by numerous legal scholars, I have the absolute right to PARDON myself, but why would I do that when I have done nothing wrong? In the meantime, the never ending Witch Hunt, led by 13 very Angry and Conflicted Democrats (& others) continues into the mid-terms! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 4, 2018

Several Republicans, including Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley Charles (Chuck) Ernest GrassleyThe Hill's 12:30 Report: Ginsburg lies in repose Top GOP senators say Hunter Biden's work 'cast a shadow' over Obama Ukraine policy Read: Senate GOP's controversial Biden report MORE (R-Iowa) questioned the president's assertion.

“If I were president of the United States and I had a lawyer that told me I could pardon myself, I think I would hire a new lawyer,” Grassley told CNN.