Group seeks ethics probe of Cruz’s podcast deal
WASHINGTON — When U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz’s podcast got picked up by the massive radio network iheartmedia, the Texas Republican declared it a “big damn deal.” A government watchdog says that big deal is also illegal.
Senators are prohibited from accepting gifts from lobbyists, which iheartmedia has. And according to the Campaign Legal Center, the San Antonio company is providing free production and marketing services for Cruz’s podcast under an “unprecedented national syndication agreement for a sitting member of Congress.”
The organization wants the Senate Ethics Committee to investigate the deal.
“Although Senator Cruz is not the only member of Congress to host a podcast, he is the only member who is apparently
violating federal law because there is substantial evidence that an illegal source finances the podcast,” says a complaint the group filed this week. “Moreover, iheart lobbies on media industry bills before Senator Cruz's committee while the podcast boasts that iheart will ‘fund production (and) dump a whole bunch of money into marketing' Senator Cruz's show.”
A spokesman for Cruz said the senator gets no financial benefit from the deal and compared it to appearing on a cable news show — something virtually every senator does regularly.
“It's no surprise Democrats and their allies in the corrupt corporate media take issue with Sen. Cruz's chart-topping podcast — it allows him to circumvent the media gatekeepers and speak directly to the American people about what is really happening in Washington,” the spokesman said. “There is no difference between Sen. Cruz appearing on a network television show, a cable news show, or a podcast airing on iheartmedia.”
The Senate rules include an exception for gifts of “nominal value,” such as a cup of coffee while appearing on a TV interview, which would otherwise be impermissible because the station employs lobbyists.
Cruz's most recent public financial disclosure does not
show the senator making any money off of the podcast, though the iheartmedia deal was announced in October.
The ethics complaint alleges the real gift is in production and marketing offered by the network, worth far more than a cup of coffee or one-off TV appearance.
“Senator Cruz is receiving enough money to continue his podcast for years and to market the podcast across 850 stations, while iheart continues to lobby Senator Cruz's committee,” it says.
Cruz announced the deal in an October episode of the podcast, declaring iheartmedia a “monster.”
“It's got 850 stations across the country,” Cruz said.
His co-host at the time, Michael
Knowles, explained that “iheart can fund the whole thing — fund production, dump a whole bunch of money into marketing.
“This is incredible,” Knowles said. “It will make this show sustainable, not just for the next few months going into the midterms, but for the next years.”
The Texas Republican launched his podcast, “Verdict with Ted Cruz,” in 2020 as a platform to defend President Donald Trump against his first impeachment. It took off, topping the itunes podcast charts in its first week.
It has maintained a large following since as Cruz has used it to build out his political brand, turning it into a platform to push back on the Biden administration and Democrats in Congress
— as well as other Republicans.
Cruz recently used the podcast to call for fellow Republicans to “fire” Senate Minority Leader Mitch Mcconnell, criticize GOP senators for supporting a bill legalizing same-sex marriage, and lay out his unusually pro-labor stance on legislation averting a rail strike.
The complaint is not the first that the watchdog has filed against Cruz. It previously accused Cruz of using campaign cash to pay for Facebook ads last year hawking his book about the U.S. Supreme Court. That complaint is still pending before the Senate Ethics Committee and the Federal Election Commission.