A super PAC affiliated with Sen. Ted Cruz reported receiving $215,000 in “digital revenue” from iHeartMedia on Wednesday—despite a spokesperson for the Republican from Texas previously denying there was an ethical issue with the company producing his podcast and saying it was no different from Cruz appearing on a cable news show.
After iHeartMedia began producing Sen. Ted Cruz’s podcast in 2022, a spokesperson for the senator ... [+]
In a Wednesday filing with the Federal Election Commission, the Truth and Courage PAC, which is dedicated to “supporting Ted Cruz’s reelection to the U.S. Senate,” reported receiving $214,752.98 from iHeartMedia Management Services in February.
In 2022—shortly after Cruz and iHeartMedia entered a partnership in which the company markets and produces his podcast, “Verdict”—the Campaign Legal Center watchdog group filed a complaint against Cruz and asked the Senate ethics committee to investigate whether the deal violated a federal law barring senators from receiving gifts from registered lobbyists.
iHeartMedia has reported spending about $50 million lobbying members of Congress since 2003, trying to influence legislation around topics including data privacy, radio ownership and the Communications Decency Act.
A Cruz spokesperson denied that the senator violated the ethics law, though, telling Forbes at the time that Cruz “receives no financial benefit from Verdict” and that there was no difference between his podcast airing on iHeartMedia or him appearing on network television.
Forbes has reached out to a representative for Cruz and to iHeartMedia for comment on Wednesday’s filing.
Cruz’s podcast, which was launched in 2020, was picked up by iHeartMedia in October 2022. Cruz’s then-co-host, Michael Knowles of the Daily Wire, announced it on an episode, saying: “iHeart can fund the whole thing, fund production, dump a whole bunch of money into marketing.” The deal also increased production from one time a week to three times a week and had iHeartMedia air the show on some of its 850 radio stations. The CLC, which filed its complaint over the deal in November 2022, said by entering into a syndication deal Cruz was accepting a gift from a registered lobbyist, which senators are prohibited from doing. The Senate ethics rules prohibit senators from “knowingly accept(ing) a gift from a registered lobbyist” or from collecting honorarium for an “appearance, speech, or article.” The CLC said iHeartMedia had spent more than $3.5 million in lobbying efforts in 2022, including on at least two bills that went before Cruz’s committee, the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Whether the new filing will reignite the CLC’s complaint. Brendan Quinn, senior communications manager for campaign finance and ethics issues for the Center, told Forbes the ethics committee informed them last February it determined Cruz did not violate federal law and intends no further action.
As of Wednesday, Cruz’s podcast was ranked at No. 43 on Spotify’s news podcast chart and No. 31 on Apple’s news podcast chart.