Wikimedia Commons / Gage Skidmore
A spokesperson for U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz said he receives no paycheck for his podcast, but the media company carrying it deposited nearly $215,000 into a PAC backing his reelection.
Business publication Forbes first reported on the filing, made Wednesday to the Federal Election Commission. In the filing, the Truth and Courage PAC reported receiving $214,752.98 from iHeartMedia Management Services on Feb. 15. It also reported taking $1,825.36 in digital media from web company Google on Feb. 21.
Truth and Courage PAC's website lists its focus as "ensuring that Ted Cruz is re-elected to the United States Senate in 2024."
Ethics questions have surrounded Cruz's agreement take marketing and production help for his The Verdict With Ted Cruz podcast from iHeartMedia virtually since it was unveiled in late 2022. At the time, the senator bragged the deal, which included airing his podcast three times weekly, also allowed him to take it "to the next level" and "promote it across our 850 stations.”
Around that time, a spokeswoman for the far-right Senator told Forbes the transaction with the nation's largest radio holding group should arouse no ethical concerns because Cruz took no paycheck. She explained that it was akin to him appearing on a cable TV political program.
Rachel Nelson, a spokesperson for iHeartMedia subsidiary Premiere Networks, this week told Forbes that Cruz volunteers his time to record the podcast and receives no money. Even so, Nelson said her company sells advertising inventory for the show and the super PAC's reported revenue is “associated with those advertising sales.”
In December 2022, watchdog group the Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint with the Senate Select Committee on Ethics alleging that Cruz's podcast deal with iHeartRadio was an "unprecedented national syndication agreement for a sitting member of Congress."
The Truth and Courage PAC spent a total of $401,702 supporting Republican candidates during the 2022 election cycle and has so far spent another $120,280 during the current cycle, according to nonpartisan campaign finance tracking group Open Secrets. The PAC funneled no money to Democrat or independent candidates during that time.
Indeed, during the 2024 election cycle, Truth and Courage PAC has already aired web ads attacking U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, the North Texas Democrat running to take Cruz's senate seat, The Hill reports.
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