WASHINGTON — Advocacy groups have filed a federal campaign finance complaint against Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. It alleges that iHeartMedia, the San Antonio company that distributes the senator’s podcast, broke election rules by giving money to a super PAC backing him.

What You Need To Know

  • Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, faces a formal campaign finance complaint after it was reported that iHeartMedia has given more than $630,000 in payments to the Truth and Courage PAC, a group dedicated to reelecting Cruz

  • Two groups, The Campaign Legal Center and End Citizens United, filed a complaint Tuesday with the Federal Election Commission alleging that Cruz solicited the payments or directed them to the PAC in violation of federal campaign finance law

  • Cruz had long said the Texas Republican was not being compensated for his time and effort and iHeartMedia said it sells the advertising revenue for Cruz’s podcast as it does with others

  • Some political experts say in order for the advocacy groups to be successful, there needs to be clear-cut evidence that there is coordination between Cruz and the super PAC

“This thing for the podcast is just a big damn deal,” said Sen. Cruz 18 months ago when it was announced that iHeartMedia was picking up his podcast, "The Verdict with Ted Cruz."

Ever since, Cruz and iHeartMedia have said that the Texas Republican was not being compensated for his time and effort. But now Cruz faces a formal campaign finance complaint after the Houston Chronicle reported that iHeartMedia has given more than $630,000 in payments to the Truth and Courage PAC, a group dedicated to reelecting Cruz.

“The most obvious and reasonable inference to be drawn from what we know is that Sen. Cruz, in some way, directed the proceeds to the super PAC that was supporting him,” said Shanna Ports, senior legal counsel on Campaign Legal Center's campaign finance team.

Two groups, The Campaign Legal Center and End Citizens United, filed a complaint Tuesday with the Federal Election Commission alleging that Cruz solicited the payments or directed them to the PAC in violation of federal campaign finance law. The complaint also argues that the payments were improperly reported on campaign filings.  

“These rules serve an important anti-corruption purpose when candidates are allowed to raise money outside of the limitations of federal law,” Ports said. 

“These large contributions can pose the risk of influencing that candidate and officeholder. Particularly one is here, the contributor is a lobbyist and has matters on the Hill before that individual,” she continued. 

Cruz is the top Republican on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, which has jurisdiction over media-related issues. 

iHeart said it sells the advertising revenue for Cruz’s podcast as it does with others, but did not say why payments were sent to the Truth and Courage PAC. Cruz’s campaign did not respond to a request by Spectrum News for comment, but when asked by the Chronicle earlier, the campaign dismissed the criticism as “lazy attacks” during an election year. 

“This is getting more attention, because it's a relatively novel approach that we haven't seen as much before,” said Mark Jones, political science professor at Rice University. 

“What we're dealing with is something that is increasingly common in the super PAC world, where it looks a whole lot like there's some coordination going on, but absent very explicit and very clear-cut evidence of that coordination between the candidate and their super PAC, there's really not much that can be done,” Jones continued. 

What could be done is to maybe put a spotlight on the blurred lines in campaign finance laws amid another expensive election year where Cruz vies to hold on to his Senate seat. 

While Cruz says his podcast allows him to communicate with voters, his Democratic opponent, Rep. Colin Allred of Dallas, bashes how often Cruz works on it. Allred’s campaign did not have a statement in response to the complaint against Cruz.