The Texas senator may have violated campaign finance law with his podcast.
Ted Cruzās podcast may be crossing some major lines.
The Campaign Legal Center, or CLC, a nonprofit organization,Ā filedĀ a complaint against the Texas senator on Tuesday with the Federal Election Commission. The watchdog group argues that theĀ Verdict With Ted CruzĀ podcast canāt send its profits to a super PAC that supports Cruzās campaign.
Cruzās podcast, produced with iHeartMedia, generates hundreds of thousands of dollars, and may be a lucrative loophole in campaign finance law since heās making the money himself. But, asĀ The Daily BeastĀ found, it raises a number of legal and ethical issues.
For one, campaign finance records show that at least seven lobbyists registered to represent iHeartMediaās interests have donated tens of thousands of dollars to Cruzās campaign since the podcast launched in 2022, The Daily Beast reports. Cruz and iHeartMedia claim that he doesnāt get paid for the podcast, volunteering his time instead, so the money isĀ reportedĀ as ādigital revenueā from ads on the podcast.
Itās literally the only branch of law where ignorance if the law is a valid excuse. How can anyone seriously get in trouble when āsorry I didnāt knowā means youāre not guilty. All criminal penalties are for āknowing and willfulā violations of FECA.
Go ahead and try to prove that Ted knew that by volunteering his time this would lead I heart media to donate the revenue of his talks into his own superpac, and that he knew this was a violation of campaign finance laws.
So frustrating!