Ted Cruz Podcast the Subject of Ethics Inquiry

Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is under scrutiny because the company that hosts his podcast has donated more than half a million dollars to his re-election campaign.

Verdict With Ted Cruz, co-hosted with Ben Ferguson, is a (usually) thrice-weekly podcast where the Senator discuses various political issues. Unsurprisingly, it has been very active this year as Cruz faces re-election against challenger Rep. Collin Allred (D-Texas). On its surface, there’s nothing particularly sinister about it. Cruz’s podcasting speech is not remarkably different from his normal speech.

Where it gets thorny is in the realm of compensation. Cruz does not draw a salary from IHeartRadio, the podcast network, as that would violate Senate ethics rules about sitting members of congress accepting money for “speech, article, or appearance.” As a public servant, Cruz is not supposed to have side hustles related to his work for the people.

However, IHeartMedia has donated at least $630,000 to the Truth & Courage PAC, an Austin-based conservative group. Since March 2023, IHeartMedia has made five donations to TPC, ranging for $48,000 to $214,000 according to a complain files by End Citizens United. TPC is an exclusively conservative PAC whose front page is dedicated to the re-election of Cruz.

It’s not unusual for IHeartMedia to donate to political candidates or to PACs. What makes this different is the fact that Cruz technically works for them, even though his time is volunteered rather than paid. End Citizen United says that the donations, all of which came after Criz began podcasting, are essentially political donations in return for content.

Michael Tijerina, a Collin County Democratic Party precinct chair, filed an ethics complaint on July 14 about the relationship. In it, she says, “Senator Cruz claims to volunteer his time to appear on the podcast. However, Senator Cruz seems to be receiving a ‘thing of value’ for his appearances — namely hundreds of thousands of funds to a super PAC supporting his re-election campaign.”

Tijerina’s is the second complaint filed against Cruz. Those complaints were forwarded to the Federal Election Commission, who are still investigating Cruz for the same thing regarding 2022 donations. Those equaled $156,000, bringing the total up to over three-quarters of a million dollars.

It’s possible that Cruz or IHeartRadio is in violation of the Federal Election Campaign Act. The matter should go before the Senate Ethics Committee, though they have not sanctioned a sitting senator for election violations since 2007.

Currently, Cruz is in a narrow race for his third term. He leads Allred by only 3 percentage points in most polls. With the sudden shake-up in the presidential race after President Joe Biden declined the nomination in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris, it’s possible that renewed Democratic interest could finally flip a long-time Republican seat to blue. In that case, it’s little wonder Cruz will take whatever help he can get.