The Campaign Legal Center (CLC) has accused Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) of violating campaign finance rules by using donor funds to promote his book.
The book, One Vote Away: How A Single Supreme Court Seat Can Change History, was released in September.
The nonpartisan government watchdog group claimed that Cruz’s campaign spent up to $18,000 on Facebook advertisements that “exclusively” urged followers to buy copies of his book by embedding links to third-party online booksellers.
“Because Cruz receives royalties from book sales, his campaign crossed a legal line by spending donor funds on Facebook ads promoting sales of that book,” said CLC director of federal reform, Brendan Fischer, in a press release.
Chris Gober, an attorney for Cruz’s campaign committee, argued that the campaign “has closely followed Federal Election Commission laws and guidelines when promoting his book.”
According to Cruz’s 2019 Senate financial disclosure forms, the book resulted in a $400,000 advance and 15 percent of the royalties on hardcover copies’ net sales.
“When elected officials use campaign contributions to advance their personal bottom lines, they compromise the integrity of the political process,” the CLC wrote in a letter to the ethics community.
“The Ethics Committee should reassure the public that the Senate enforces its well-established rules and laws that guard against corruption by conducting a swift investigation to identify and hold Senator Cruz accountable for any ethics violations,” the letter continued.
The book’s ads ran between September 24 and October 5, the CLC claimed and included the disclaimer “Paid for by Ted Cruz for Senate” on every ad.
