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Federal Election Commission dismisses complaint that Ted Cruz violated campaign finance law

The Brief The Federal Election Commission cleared Sen. Ted Cruz of any campaign finance violations in connection with his podcast. The podcast's marketer, iHeartMedia, made nearly $1 million in payments to pro-Cruz PAC Truth and Courage. Both iHeart and the PAC said the money was payments for an advertising agreement. WASHINGTON - The Federal Election Commission has dismissed a complaint filed against Sen. Ted Cruz accusing him of violating campaign finance laws. The backstory A complaint filed last year against the senator accused him of wrongdoing after the company that distributed his podcast donated nearly $1 million to a political action committee that supported his reelection. The company in question, iHeartMedia, produces and markets Cruz's podcast, "Verdict with Ted Cruz." The company has been doing so since 2022. Those filing the complaint accused Cruz of trying to go around campaign finance laws that limit a corporation's donation to a political candidate to $5,000 by having iHeartMedia donate the money to the Truth and Courage PAC. Truth and Courage owns Cruz's podcast and was in charge of producing it before iHeart took over. Between March 2023 and August 2024, the podcast received payments totaling more than $961,000 from iHeart. Those deposits were listed as other federal receipts and not as contributions. The PAC said they were payments for advertising revenue paid by iHeart. The commission said there was not enough evidence to indicate that Cruz directed the money to the PAC and noted that he was limited to just hosting the show. Cruz has said he doesn't make money from the podcast. What they're saying "Though the PAC's election activities may have been funded by the payments, that does not transform the iHeart payments into contributions, since the payments from iHeart to the PAC were not themselves made for the purpose of influencing a federal election," the commission said in their ruling. By the numbers The filing states the PAC spent more than $840,000 in support of Cruz and another $533,000 to oppose Cruz's 2024 opponent, Colin Allred. The Source Information in this article comes from the Federal Election Commission.