A political campaign watchdog has accused Texas Sen. Cruz of improperly using campaign funds to pay for Facebook ads marketing his 2020 book on the Supreme Court.
The Campaign Legal Center filed complaints with the Senate Ethics Committee and the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday alleging that Cruz violated federal campaign finance law and Senate ethics rules by spending up to $18,000 of campaign funds on Facebook advertisements promoting his book One Vote Away: How a Single Supreme Court Seat Can Change History while he was earning royalties for the book.
“When elected officials use campaign contributions to advance their personal bottom lines, they compromise the integrity of the political process and undermine the public’s trust that their political contributions are being used legally,” the CLC said in its complaint.
Cruz got a $400,000 advance for the book, published by the conservative publishing house Regnery Publishing, and he received 15% of net sales in royalties for hard copies of the book, according to a financial disclosure report filed within the Senate.
But Chris Gober, attorney for Cruz’s campaign, said in a statement that the Texan hasn’t received royalties.
“Senator Cruz’s campaign has closely followed Federal Election Commission laws and guidelines when promoting his book, and he has not received any royalties whatsoever for these book sales,” Gober said.
Cruz’s spokeswoman did not respond to a request for clarification.
The Facebook ads for Cruz’s book ran Sept. 24 through Oct. 6, during the appointment of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. The ads cost between $14.400 and $17,697, the CLC said in its complaint to the Ethics Committee.
“This moment is why I wrote the book,” Cruz said in one ad. “If you would like to get the full story, you can go and buy a copy right now.”
The ads were linked to booksellers such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble and included the disclaimer “Paid by Ted Cruz for Senate.”
“Senate rules are also very clear about prohibitions on converting federal campaign funds to personal use for current and former members,” the CLC said in a news release. “Voters must be able to trust when they are donating to political campaigns, they are doing so to help their favored candidate win or retain their office, not financing their personal endeavors.”
