AUSTIN, Texas – Last week, Texans saw a barrage of coverage on Ted Cruz’s growing scandals - potentially “unlawful” payments from iHeartMedia to a super PAC supporting Cruz and Cruz’s push to give himself a private escort through airports.

Here’s a recap:

Dallas Morning News: Ad money from Sen. Ted Cruz podcast flows to super PAC focused on his reelection

• A super PAC focused on getting U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz reelected has received hundreds of thousands of dollars tied to advertising revenue from Cruz’s “Verdict” podcast, an unusual campaign finance arrangement that raises legal questions.

• Public scrutiny of the payments could prompt advertisers to follow BP America Inc.’s lead and redirect their business to avoid indirectly supporting the Texas Republican’s effort to win a third six-year term.

• Contacted by The Dallas Morning News, BP America, based in Cruz’s hometown of Houston, said it was unaware that ad revenue from the podcast was flowing to a pro-Cruz organization.

• “We purchase advertising on iHeart based on the potential audience and do not specify by podcasts,” BP America spokesperson Ross Parman said. “We were never informed that media spend was going directly to a super PAC and have instructed iHeart to remove our messages from any podcasts that direct advertising revenue to campaigns, PACs or political parties.”

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

• 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.

San Antonio Current: Advertiser leaves Ted Cruz's podcast after learning money goes toward super PAC

• At least one sponsor on U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz's podcast The Verdict has gotten cold feet after recent revelations that ad dollars spent on the program flow to a super PAC working for the Texas Republican's reelection.

• BP America told the Dallas Morning News it was unaware ad revenues from the podcast benefit the Truth and Courage PAC, a political organization that list its primary goal is ensuring Cruz is reelected to the U.S. Senate. The energy company said it's since stopped buying ad spots on the show.

• A recent exchange with a reporter from Houston TV station KTRK suggested Cruz isn't eager to discuss the iHeartMedia arrangement. The senator gave an earful to one of the ABC affiliate's reporters for daring to bring it up.

Texas Monthly: Ted Cruz Watch: The Senator’s “Free” Podcasting Gig Has Paid $630,000 to a Political Action Committee That Backs Him

• Ted Cruz spends three days a week hosting his podcast, Verdict With Ted Cruz… When he’s not busy with his podcasting duties, the Houston-based attorney has a side hustle in the U.S. Senate.

• Watchdog groups have raised ethical concerns about the confluence of these two gigs. Senate rules and federal law prevent members from accepting gifts from lobbyists, and IHeartMedia has been registered as one since 2002. Cruz serves on the Senate Commerce Committee, which regulates the communications industry, of which IHeart is a part.

• The company produces and provides advertising for Cruz’s show, which ethics groups have argued constitutes a gift to the senator worth, potentially, millions of dollars.

Jeremy Wallace (Houston Chronicle/San Antonio Express-News) and Scott Braddock (The Quorum Report)’s Texas Take Podcast:

• Scott Braddock: “The good senator from Houston, Ted Cruz, who promotes his podcast all the time… Cruz has said over and over again that it's a labor of love to do a podcast, and he does not get paid for it.”

• “But check this out: 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 that supports Cruz's reelection.’”

• “That really does look like a serious ethical question. And I mean, he's saying he doesn't get paid for it. But this super PAC that is going to help his reelection effort against Colin Allred this fall has cashed in a little more than $600,000. That sounds like a payment to me.”

• Jeremy Wallace: “There’s ethical questions here to ask about, like, ‘Wait a minute,’ like, ‘Who’s paying who for what here?’”

ABC13 Houston – WATCH:

• “This morning there are plenty of questions surrounding Texas senator Ted Cruz’s fundraising arrangement with a company that distributes his podcast.”

• “The company, iHeartMedia, employs lobbyists – and senators cannot accept financial gifts from lobbyists.”

• “Our partners at the Houston Chronicle uncovered records showing iHeartMedia donated more than $630,000 last year to a PAC which, according to its own website, exists to ensure the senator’s reelection.”

• ABC13: “So if an entity which employs lobbyists is giving hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to your reelection efforts, how can you say you're not being compensated?”

• Cruz: [Laughs]

The Daily Beast: Ted Cruz Flips Out When Confronted Over Sketchy Podcast Deal

• Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) lashed out at a reporter this week after she pressed him on the massive amount of money that iHeartMedia, the radio network that distributes his podcast, has poured into a super PAC supporting his re-election campaign.

• ‘It really is sad what’s happened to the media,” Cruz sneered when ABC 13 reporter Shannon Ryan asked him about a bombshell report by the Houston Chronicle.

• Last week, the Chronicle revealed that iHeartMedia had sent over $630,000 in payments to the Truth and Courage PAC since March 2023, accounting for roughly one-third of the committee's total contributions in that timeframe. Experts told the Chronicle that the payments “appear to be a novel arrangement that blur the lines between what is allowed” under Senate ethics rules and campaign finance laws.

Dallas Morning News: Ted Cruz gets liftoff on his escort-through-the-airport bill. Now he hopes to land it

• U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz is one step closer to having law enforcement officers give top national officials a police escort at commercial airports if the officials face a safety threat.

• Cruz’ airport security proposal comes three years after the lawmaker was criticized for leaving the state for a vacation to Cancun as Texas was facing a historic and deadly ice storm where millions of residents lost power and temperatures plunged into single digits for days. Photos of Cruz pulling a piece of luggage through the concourse at Houston Intercontinental Airport were widely circulated by news organizations and on social media.

• He was blistered by critics so badly that he returned to the U.S. after one night.

NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth – WATCH:

• “Senator Ted Cruz wants law enforcement to provide top national officials, including members of Congress, a private escort past airport security.”

• “It comes on the heels of Cruz’s 2021 trip from Houston to Cancun during the state’s crippling winter storm. Cruz was criticized, and he returned to the U.S. just one day later.”

WFAA Dallas – WATCH:

• “U.S. Senator Ted Cruz – now one step closer to getting escorts by security as he goes through commercial airports.”

• “Cruz proposed it last month, three years after he got criticized for leaving Texas during the ice storm and the power outages.”

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