Federal regulators on Tuesday asked a super PAC tied to U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, to clear up hundreds of thousands of dollars in reporting discrepancies about donations it received from a San Antonio-based media group that distributes the senator’s podcast.
The Truth and Courage PAC responded to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) the following day, updating four quarterly campaign finance statements from 2025 to fix the errors. In one of the filings, the PAC differed from the government’s record keeping by more than $400,000. Other errors cited by the FEC were in the $100,000 range.
At issue, according to the FEC’s Tuesday letter, was Truth and Courage’s “incorrect” tally of aggregate year-to-date total donations it received from iHeart Media Management Services Inc., the San Antonio-based distributor of the senator’s podcast, The Verdict with Ted Cruz.
While it’s not unusual for the FEC to ask campaigns and PACs to fix or clarify such reporting discrepancies, the size of the errors in this case raise an eyebrow, experts said.
“The amount of these discrepancies are bigger than you usually see,” said Brett Kappel, a Washington, D.C.-based campaign finance attorney who’s done work for politicians on both sides of the aisle.
Kappel said errors of that size could weigh into the FEC’s decision whether to refer an inquiry to its enforcement division. However, that appears unlikely given Truth and Courage’s quick response to the letter and its willingness to revise the numbers, he added.
This week’s FEC exchange is the latest scrutiny to swirl around Cruz’s controversial podcast distribution deal. His contract with iHeartMedia has pumped hundreds of thousands of dollars from advertising royalties into Truth and Courage, an entity that publicly states its primary purpose as supporting Cruz’s reelection.
Under federal law, super PACs such as Truth and Courage can raise unlimited amounts of cash to back federal candidates and accept direct corporate donations. However, federal candidates can’t “solicit, receive, direct, transfer, or spend funds” on behalf of the fundraising entities.
Cruz receives no direct payment for his three-times-a-weekly podcast, which last year signed up its 200th affiliate. What’s more, the senator’s camp has repeatedly said its dealings with iHeartMedia are legal and that he doesn’t tell Truth and Courage how to spend its money.
Even so, Truth or Courage has reaped hundreds of thousands in contributions from the iHeartMedia deal, which provides considerable funding to Cruz’s reelection efforts. During the senator’s 2024 reelection campaign, for example, the super PAC spent at least $2.3 million backing his run, according to federal filings.
Cruz’s podcast distribution deal became the target of a 2024 federal complaint filed by campaign-finance watchdogs. The groups argued the arrangement created the appearance that Cruz violated the law that bans candidates from having direct involvement in super PACs.
However, in February of last year, the FEC — which is evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats — voted 5-1 to dismiss the complaint, writing that there was “no available information” showing Cruz directly solicited the money.
Sign Up for SA Current newsletters.
Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Or sign up for our RSS Feed
