"It was a staffing issue and it was inadvertent, it was a mistake, it was not a deliberate action," Cruz said, according to the Washington Post.
He added: "We're dealing with it internally but it was a mistake, it was not malicious conduct."
An aide to Cruz confirmed the comments to CNN, adding that there would be an internal effort to figure out who was responsible.
Cruz declined to comment when asked by CNN about the incident.
Cruz declined to comment when asked by CNN about the incident.