Left-wing legal and advocacy groups are targeting Senator Ted Cruz’s (R., Texas) Verdict podcast over potential campaign finance issues as Cruz’s race against Representative Colin Allred (D., Texas) heats up.
The Campaign Legal Center (CLC) and End Citizens United, two left-leaning watchdog groups, filed a complaint last week with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) accusing Cruz of campaign finance violations by putting podcast ad revenue towards a pro-Cruz super PAC. The complaint demands the FEC investigate the situation and accuses Cruz of violating campaign finance laws prohibiting corporations from contributing directly to campaigns.
“This type of funding risks putting the priorities of wealthy special interests above everyone else and makes our political process more vulnerable to corruption,” CLC senior director of campaign finance Erin Choplak said in a press release announcing the complaint. “To give Texas voters clarity, the Federal Election Commission must swiftly investigate this matter and determine whether Sen. Cruz played a role in directing this transfer.”
Left-wing foundations such as the Sandler Foundation, Ford Foundation, McArthur Foundation, and George Soros’ Foundation to Promote Open Society have bankrolled the Campaign Legal Center, according to Influence Watch, a project by watchdog think tank Capital Research Center.
“Campaign Legal Center is a Soros-funded left-wing attack group, and its 501(c)(4) arm was a puppet of Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced ex-crypto-billionaire who gave Democrats almost as much cash as Soros. End Citizens United is little better than a scam PAC and endorses Democratic candidates. In short, Sen. Cruz is lucky in his enemies, because these groups disgrace themselves when they pretend to be nonpartisan watchdogs,” Capital Research Center President Scott Walter told National Review.
CLC has repeatedly targeted Cruz with ethics complaints, and each time the complaints have been rebuked. In 2022, CLC filed an ethics complaint to the Senate ethics committee accusing him of improperly accepting a gift from iHeart media. The senate ethics committee shot down the CLC complaint.
“This complaint by the Soros-funded ‘Campaign Legal Center’ is just another of CLC’s bogus nuisance complaints aimed at harassing conservatives who dare to defy the left’s agenda,” the American Accountability Foundation’s president, Tom Jones, told National Review.
Similarly, End Citizens United is a Democrat-aligned PAC with deep ties to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee founded to promote candidates opposed to the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling loosening campaign finance restrictions. The group’s political director was the vice president of political and advocacy for iHeart until February. End Citizens United is supporting Allred in his campaign against Cruz.
Cruz’s podcast began receiving fresh scrutiny last month with a story in Forbes story and attention from prominent Democratic opposition research group MeidasTouch Both reports cited a recent FEC filing indicating iHeart media, the podcast provider for Verdict, gave over $200,000 to the pro-Cruz Truth and Courage PAC in February. Other center-left news outlets have since covered the attacks on Cruz’s podcast.
Cruz tapes the freely accessible podcast in addition to carrying out his day-to-day senate responsibilities.
“It is always bewildering to see the mainstream media and the Democrats coordinating lazy attacks during an election year. Senator Cruz appears on Verdict three times a week for free,” a Cruz spokesperson told NR.
“He does this to pull back the veil on the corrupt inner workings of Washington–none of which ever get fairly covered. How convenient that the mainstream media and the cogs in the machine of the Biden-Pelosi Democrat Party want this to stop.”
The scrutiny concerning Cruz’s show caused BP to suspend advertisements from iHeartRadio productions that direct revenue, according to multiple reports.
A spokesperson for BP told National Review that the action took place after the company was informed its money was being put towards a Super PAC. The company’s policy prohibits the use of BP funds to support any political party or candidacy.
BP purchases iHeart ads based on potential audience without targeting specific podcasts. Cruz’s podcast likely featured BP ads because of his large Texas following and longtime support for the oil & gas industry. Cruz’s show was picked up by iHeart Media in October 2022 and its YouTube channel has 271,000 subscribers. iHeart did not respond to a request for comment.
Since March 2023, iHeart has sent over $600,000 of advertising revenue to the Truth and Courage PAC, out of its $2 million fundraising overall, the FEC complaint notes. The advertising revenue is a fraction of Cruz’s total fundraising to date. His campaign has raised over $10 million this cycle for what is expected to be a hard-fought general election campaign.
Allred is attempting to contrast Cruz by portraying himself as a common-sense moderate, despite his progressive bona fides on gun restrictions and immigration. The Truth and Courage PAC has already taken aim at Allred for calling a wall across the southern border “racist.” Allred’s campaign criticized Cruz in February for supposedly prioritizing his media appearances over serving his state. The campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
End Citizens United and CLC denied any coordination with the Allred campaign and both told NR the FEC complaint was not intended to dissuade advertisers from Cruz’s podcast. The FEC declined to comment.
A poll conducted earlier this month by the Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation found Cruz leading Allred by five percentage points. Another poll conducted around the same time by Cygnal showed Cruz leading by nine points. Allred easily secured the Democratic nomination on Super Tuesday, and his campaign is a major target for Democrats this cycle.