Texas group wants Ted Cruz investigated for failing to disclose loans

By

An Austin-based watchdog group filed a federal complaint on Tuesday with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) against Texas senator and presidential candidate Ted Cruz. The group urged the federal regulators to investigate Cruz's undisclosed bank loans taken by his 2012 senate campaign.

According to Chron, the complaint alleges that Cruz broke election law in 2012 when he borrowed $1.43 million from Goldman Sachs. Cruz used the loans to fund his campaign for U.S. Senate in 2012, but mentioned the money as personal funds on official documents.

In the first half of 2012, Ted Cruz put $1.2 million in total to finance his campaign, which Cruz listed as "personal  funds" in campaign finance reports. Cruz mentioned the fund came from his personal savings and assetts liquidation.

However, a review of personal financial disclosure that Cruz filed later with the Senate does not find a liquidation of his assetts. The review showed that in the first half of 2012, Ted Cruz obtained the low-interest loan from Goldman Sachs, where his wife, Heidi Cruz, is an employee. Cruz also took the second loan from Citibank. The loans totaled $750,000 and increased to a maximum of $1 million before being paid down later that year, New York Times reported.

Ted Cruz failed to disclose loans in reports for Senate Committee filed with the Federal Election Commission, in which candidates are required to disclose the source of money they borrow to finance their campaigns.

Cruz's 2016 campaign spokeswoman Catherine Frazier said last week that the failure to disclose the loans on documents was a mistake. She said the campaign seeks to update the old reports, the Guardian reported.

Frazier added that Senator Cruz used his personal savings to help fund his senate campaign as he said before. Frazier said Cruz did so by liquidating his savings, selling stocks and borrowing against an equity account.

The spokeswoman said that the campaign was going to contact the FEC to determine if the issue is the case. "If necessary, we'll be happy to update the reports from the 2012 election cycle," she added.

Frazier asserted that Cruz has made no secret of the loans. She pointed to the loans disclosure later in separate financial reports required of all federal elected officials.

At a GOP presidential debate last week, Cruz called the financial report "a hit piece". He declined questions of the loan, saying it was a small oversight overblown in the media. The Senator asserted that the failure of disclosing the loans was a paperwork error.

Tags
Austin, Federal Election Commission, Texas, Ted Cruz, Goldman Sachs, campaign
Join the Discussion
Related Articles
More Law & Society News
IRS Reinstates $300 Monthly Child Tax Credit Payments Under Biden's New Family Assistance Plan

IRS Reinstates $300 Monthly Child Tax Credit Payments Under Biden's New Family Assistance Plan

Ohio Woman Sentenced for Massive Social Security Scam Involving Dead Child's Identity

Ohio Woman Sentenced for Massive Social Security Scam Involving Dead Child's Identity

How To Prepare for Survivor's Penalty and Avoid Higher Taxes After Losing a Spouse

How To Prepare for Survivor's Penalty and Avoid Higher Taxes After Losing a Spouse

NY Attorney General Letitia James Plans to Collect $454M by Freezing Trump's Bank Accounts, Properties

NY Attorney General Letitia James Plans to Collect $454M by Freezing Trump's Bank Accounts, Properties

Real Time Analytics