U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz hit with another ethics complaint over his podcast deal

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is facing yet another formal ethics complaint over a controversial podcast-distribution deal that’s so far pumped $787,000 into a political action committee backing his reelection.

Michael Tijerina, a Collin County Democratic Party precinct chair, last week filed a complaint with the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics alleging the deal between Cruz and San Antonio-based radio company iHeart Media violates federal law, the Austin-American Statesman reports.

The filing reportedly accuses Cruz of using the deal to distribute his thrice-weekly Verdict With Ted Cruz podcast to skirt earned income limits for senators, federal financial disclosure requirements and a ban on collecting speaking fees.

“Ted Cruz has a long record of putting himself ahead of Texans and his podcast is just the latest example,” Tijerina said in a statement supplied to the Statesman. “If Cruz is breaking Senate rules or federal election law by funneling money to his super PAC, we deserve to know.”

Cruz has maintained through press statements that he volunteers his time for the Verdict With Ted Cruz podcast and doesn’t gain financially from the deal.

However, federal filings show that iHeartMedia has funneled nearly $800,000 into the Truth or Courage super PAC, which lists its primary objective as “ensuring that Ted Cruz is re-elected to the United States Senate in 2024.” Those payments amount to roughly a third of the super PAC’s total cash intake, federal records show.

In earlier media comments, a spokeswoman for iHeartMedia said the payments are “associated with” sales of ad time on Cruz’s podcast. 

The new complaint comes as Cruz faces two separate complaints from watchdog groups asking the Federal Election Commission to look into the distribution deal. The FEC complaints argue that the nature of the podcast syndication deal strongly suggests Cruz told iHeartMedia to pay corporate dollars into Truth and Courage in exchange for his services — a potential violation federal laws governing how super PACs can operate.

It remains to be seen how much traction Tijerina’s complaint will get. The Senate Select Committee on Ethics hasn’t issued a disciplinary sanction since 2007, according to the Statesman.

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This article appears in Jul 3-9, 2024.