Ted Cruz Faces Second Investigation in Less Than a Year

Texas Senator Ted Cruz faces a second investigation in less than a year as two advocacy groups called on the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on Tuesday to investigate Cruz for more than $630,000 in advertising revenue that has gone from his podcast to a super PAC backing his reelection.

Concerns have been raised over iHeartMedia, the broadcaster of the Verdict With Ted Cruz podcast, paying $630,850 to the Truth and Courage PAC which supports the Republican Senator.

The complaint comes as Cruz is expected to face a tough election challenge in November from Democrat Colin Allred, a former NFL player who currently serves in the House of Representatives. In 2018, Cruz only narrowly defeated Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke by less than three percent of the vote, and his seat is widely regarded as competitive in 2024.

Data from the FEC shows iHeartMedia has donated a total of $630,850 to Truth and Courage PAC since March 2023, constituting around a third of its revenue since the beginning of that year. Critics are calling on Senate and federal election authorities to investigate this as a possible ethics violation while Cruz’s team has said he has done nothing wrong.

On Tuesday, the Campaign Legal Center and End Citizens United filed a FEC complaint that focuses on campaign finance rules as it alleges Cruz may have improperly directed iHeartMedia to send over $630,000 to the Truth and Courage PAC.

“There is reason to believe Cruz has violated federal campaign finance laws that prohibit federal candidates and officeholders from soliciting or directing ‘soft money’—including money from corporations, which are categorically prohibited from contributing to candidates—in connection with his 2024 reelection efforts,” according to the complaint.

Newsweek has reached out to Cruz’s campaign via email for comment.

The complaint highlights five payments, dating back to March 2023, from iHeart Media Management Services Inc., a subsidiary of iHeartMedia, to the Truth and Courage PAC.

Tuesday’s complaint also alleges the payments were improperly reported as “other receipts” rather than campaign contributions. “Other receipts” is a category generally reserved for interest or income on assets already owned by a PAC.

“By soliciting or directing $630,850.08 of iHeartMedia’s corporate funds to or on behalf of TCP in connection with his 2024 election, Cruz appears to have brazenly violated these federal campaign finance laws,” the complaint reads.

While the terms of iHeartMedia’s payments are unclear as the company’s agreement with Cruz for distributing his podcast is not public, Cruz and iHeart have previously said the senator volunteers to host the podcast three times a week and is not compensated.

The Cruz campaign has previously said the attention to the podcast’s financial arrangements is “lazy attacks” by news outlets and Democrats trying to shut down the podcast in an election year.

Cruz previously faced a similar investigation when in September 2023 the FEC found Cruz did not violate the law prohibiting the use of campaign funds for personal gain when his campaign bought Facebook ads in 2020 to tout his book.

The decision came after in April 2023, the FEC found “reason to believe” that Cruz used $13,900 in campaign funds for his personal benefit by purchasing ads to promote his book. However, three weeks later Cruz’s attorneys provided the commission with an affidavit stating that the senator did not benefit financially from any sales those ads may have generated.

Cruz started hosting the podcast during former President Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial in early 2020. The senator announced iHeart’s backing in 2022, saying at the time that it was a “big damn deal” to partner with the radio programmer.