WASHINGTON – Two advocacy groups told the Federal Election Commission on Tuesday that more than $630,000 in ad revenue from Sen. Ted Cruz's (R-Texas) podcast went to a super PAC supporting his re-election bid. It called for an investigation and possible sanctions.
“Mr. There is reason to believe that he violated federal campaign finance laws, which prohibit doing so. ” according to the FEC complaint filed by Campaign Legal Center and End Citizens United.
Both groups focus on campaign finance rules.
Their complaint says the podcast “Verdict with Ted Cruz” is sponsored, sold and distributed by iHeartMedia. The article highlights five payments dating back to March 2023 from iHeart Media Management Services Inc., a subsidiary of iHeartMedia, to the pro-Cruise Truth and Courage PAC.
Rachel Nelson, a spokeswoman for iHeart subsidiary Premiere Networks, previously said the payments to Truth and Courage were related to Verdict's ad revenue, but deferred additional questions to the super PAC. Ta.
Truth and Courage, which has no contact information on its website, has promoted Mr. Cruz and attacked his opponent in the November election, Rep. Colin Allred (D-Dallas). There is. Inquiries sent to his email address included in the PAC's campaign finance filing went unanswered.
The Cruz campaign has previously characterized the attention to the podcast's financial arrangements as a “lazy attack” by news organizations and Democrats seeking to shut down the podcast in an election year.
Cruz and Eihart said the senator volunteers to host the podcast three times a week but is not paid. Neither Cruz nor iHeart would explain why the company would send podcast ad dollars to Truth and Courage.
“However, the most reasonable and logical inference to draw from these circumstances is that Mr. Cruz requested or directed that iHeartMedia transfer these funds to TCP, and that TCP would use those funds to support Mr. Cruz's candidacy. “iHeartMedia has requested or directed that the information be used for the purposes of this Agreement, and iHeartMedia has consented to such use,'' the newspaper said. The complaint was filed Tuesday.
The complaint alleges this violates a prohibition on federal candidates soliciting or directing donations from corporations or super PACs above certain limits.
The complaint also suggests that Truth and Courage violated campaign finance laws by falsely reporting payments as “digital income” or “digital income” rather than donations.
In the complaint, the organizations request the FEC to investigate and seek “civil penalties sufficient to deter future violations, injunctive relief to cure these violations and prohibit any future violations, and additional “Appropriate sanctions for any violations, including redress for It will ensure compliance with the law.
Recent episodes of Verdict include ads for large companies with big-name brands such as BP, Safeway, Consumer Cellular, Carvana, Lexus, and UberEats.
The Dallas Morning News contacted many of these advertisers last week, but only one, BP America, responded.
The Houston-based energy giant does not specify individual podcasts when buying ads through iHeart, company spokesman Ross Perman said last week.
“We were not informed that our media spending was flowing directly to super PACs, and we have directed iHeart to remove our message from any podcasts that direct ad revenue to campaigns, PACs, or political parties.” Perman said.
Cruz began hosting the podcast during former President Donald Trump's first impeachment trial in early 2020. The senator announced his support for iHeart in 2022, saying at the time it was a “huge deal” to partner with the No. 1 radio syndicator in the United States.
The Campaign Legal Center sent a letter to the Senate Ethics Committee in late 2022 requesting an investigation into the arrangement. The complaint focused on potential violations of rules barring gifts from lobbyists to senators.
The group pointed to iHeart's multimillion-dollar lobbying efforts, including issues within the jurisdiction of the Senate Commerce Committee. Mr. Cruz is the top Republican on the committee.
The Ethics Committee reviewed the matter and found that Mr. Cruz “did not violate federal law, Senate rules, or standards of conduct.”
The new complaint focuses on campaign finance laws, alleging that if Mr. Cruz helped direct the super PAC, funds sent to the super PAC would be illegal transfers.
“It is illegal for federal candidates to use 'soft money,' or money raised outside of federal election law, to advance their campaigns,” said Erin Klopak, senior director of campaign finance at the Election Legal Center. There's a reason why it's banned.” In a statement. “This type of funding risks putting the priorities of wealthy special interests above everyone else, making our political process even more vulnerable to corruption.”
