More than a year after federal regulators ruled that U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz didn’t violate campaign finance laws with a controversial distribution deal for his podcast, filings show the Texas Republican continues to reap big rewards from the arrangement.
Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings by the Cruz-aligned Truth and Courage Super PAC indicate the fundraising entity received $91,945.08 in second-quarter “digital revenue” from San Antonio-based iHeartMedia, the nation’s largest radio station holding company.
Under iHeartMedia’s 2022 deal to distribute The Verdict with Ted Cruz, the media conglomerate funnels syndication revenue from the program to the PAC, which lists its primary goal as ensuring Cruz continues to be reelected.
Under 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 super PACs.
Campaign finance watchdog groups have long argued the podcast distribution deal raises questions about how directly Cruz or his handlers were involved in negotiating the distribution pact with iHeartMedia.
All the while, Cruz is sponsoring a bill in the U.S. Senate that would require new vehicles to have AM radios despite a nationwide shift away from the technology. Although the senator has painted the measure as a public safety issue, critics have pointed out that it would benefit iHeartMedia and other radio ownership groups.
Even so, Cruz’s team has denied any wrongdoing, arguing that any agreements related to The Verdict are above board and comply with federal laws.
The Verdict airs three times weekly and gives Cruz a platform for right-wing rants about politics and culture. To date, Truth and Courage has pulled in hundreds of thousands of dollars from iHeartMedia to support the senator’s reelection campaigns.
Campaign finance reform groups filed a 2024 complaint with the FEC alleging the distribution deal violated federal law. At that point, Truth and Courage had collected more than $630,000 in revenue from the deal.
“By soliciting or directing $630,850.09 of iHeartMedia’s corporate funds to or on behalf of [Truth and Courage] in connection with his 2024 election, Cruz appears to have brazenly violated these federal campaign finance laws, which are crucial to preventing real and apparent corruption in our federal elections, as well as promoting voters’ right to having a meaningful electoral voice through the democratic process,” the watchdog organizations said in their filing.
However, in a February 2025 ruling, the FEC ruled in a 5-1 split decision that there was “no available information” indicating Cruz directly solicited the money from iHeartMedia.
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