AUSTIN, Texas – Ted Cruz’s podcast problems are only getting worse – about three times worse.

After Forbes reported that “a super PAC affiliated with Sen. Ted Cruz reported receiving $215,000 in ‘digital revenue’” from Cruz’s podcast host company, a new report in the Houston Chronicle reveals that iHeartMedia actually paid out three times that amount, “about a third of the $2 million the Truth and Courage PAC reported raising since the start of 2023.”

“The Truth and Courage PAC did not respond to questions about how the payments came to be or how it was using the money.”

Houston Chronicle: Ted Cruz campaign says he doesn't get paid to podcast. IHeartMedia gave $630K to a PAC backing him

By Benjamin Wermund

• U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz's office has repeatedly dismissed ethical questions about his three-times-a-week podcasting gig, saying he makes no money from the venture with a company that lobbies Congress. 

• But over the last year, iHeartMedia, the massive radio network that picked up the "Verdict with Ted Cruz" podcast in 2022, has made regular, and growing, payments to a super PAC supporting the Texas Republican's reelection effort. The payments, which the media company says are associated with ad revenue from the podcast, total $630,850 — about a third of the $2 million the Truth and Courage PAC reported raising since the start of 2023, according to the latest Federal Election Commission data.

• The Truth and Courage PAC's stated focus is "ensuring that Ted Cruz is re-elected to the United States Senate in 2024." It has already started rolling out ads targeting U.S. Rep Colin Allred, the Dallas Democrat and former NFL player running against Cruz in one of the highest-profile races in the nation this November.

• [Campaign Legal Center senior counsel Shanna] Ports said the payments from iHeartMedia beg "the question of whether this is an unlawful contribution." Federal officeholders are prohibited from soliciting a contribution of over $5,000 to a super PAC or directing over $5,000 to a super PAC. So if Cruz told iHeartMedia that it could or should move money to the super PAC, he could be in violation of that law, Ports said.

• The extent of the payments, which go back to March 1, 2023, have not been previously reported. 

• The Truth and Courage PAC did not respond to questions about how the payments came to be or how it was using the money. 

• The payments come directly from the iHeartMedia company, which is headquartered in San Antonio. Cruz's super PAC appears to be the only political organization to receive regular payments from the company, according to FEC records.

• "Volunteering generally means you’re doing something expecting no personal benefit, but Cruz here is clearly benefiting from the ad revenue that is being generated by his iHeartMedia show," said Robert Maguire, research director at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a government watchdog group. 

• The iHeartMedia payments began with $48,797.87 on March 1, 2023, according to campaign finance reports. The company paid the PAC another $77,352 in April, $129,030 at the end of August, $160,916 in November and $214,752.98 on Feb. 15.

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