We have mentioned the tightrope act that Texas Senator Ted Cruz performs in his deal with iHeartMedia as he plays push the envelope with The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971.

What we’ve barely touched on is Ted Cruz’s partner in crime: the very same iHeartMedia. You see, it is not only a crime for Cruz to extract hundreds of thousands of dollars from a donor by directing them to pay the lucre he earns from his podcast, Verdict With Ted Cruz, to a PAC fund whose sole purpose is to re-elect him, it is also a violation of 52 USC § 30129(a) and 11 CFR § 115.2(a)(1) to make these contributions while a federal government contractor.

Which is what iHeartMedia is, and has been.

iHeartMedia maintains government contracts with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Here is the description of one such contract for which iHeartMedia was paid $30,000.

It’s just that clear.

Cruz can’t do what he’s doing, and iHeartMedia can’t do what they’re doing.

You’d think that the Federal Election Commission would be all over this, but all of the players in DC know how toothless the FEC has become. Its governing board of 6 has barely had a quorum these past few years, and when it does, the votes are at times deadlocked along party lines.

Like everything else in government today, our institutions are constructed to ride herd over those who complain about not being told not to mow the carpet.

John C. Padora is a Democrat running for US Congress in CO-04. That’s Ken Buck’s old seat. The one he resigned from. The one Lauren Boebert (R CO-03) is now running for because the competition against a Democrat in her old district is just too fierce. She might lose there this time.

But this is Ken Buck’s old district, and the demographics haven’t changed. It’s still a Cook’s rated R +13 district.

Padora hasn’t a gnat’s chance in a hailstorm.

But that didn’t stop John. He videoed some of his campaign ads sitting in the very seat that Lauren sat in when she showed her date how handy she could be at a performance of the play “Beetlejuice”.

If you’re not going to win, you might as well make it fun.

Poor misunderstood Ted Cruz can’t catch a break. Capitol watchdogs keep attacking Teddy’s own grift gathering media presence on his iHeartMedia-sponsored podcast by saying such unfair things like “This is not an arrangement we’ve seen before, and it seems like Senator Cruz is trying to find a way to walk the line between not falling into an ethics violation and not falling into a campaign finance violation.” 

But TFG must be fuming. What must The Don think about all of this grift not flowing his way? Not even getting to wet his beak a little?

Cruz’s latest reporting to the FEC, thanks to Alfredo at the Dairy Queen, had a whopping $156,185.72 in digital revenue sent to his Truth and Courage PAC. That plus the last reporting period gives an aggregate sum of $370,938.70.

Not bad for a podcast.

And not that a cool 370 large is chicken feed, but wait until The Convicted Felon hears about what Sheldon Adelson’s widow, Dr. Miriam Adelson did for Cruz’s PAC.

Yep. Seven figures. A cool million from The Las Vegas Sands…er…a successful medical practice…that did NOT go to TFG, even after The Former Guy decorated Dr. Adelson with a Medal of Freedom.

What’s a corrupt grifting former President to do? You hand out these hunks of metal and they repay you by donating to one of your former opponents whose dad helped kill JFK?

And that is the best thing I can say about Ted Cruz’s grift: at least TFG didn’t get it.

In times past, we Americans liked to find out how many college football players we could stuff in a phone booth. Or a VW Bug. Or any old cramped space.

But call me naive, others have, I just don’t get why you have to stuff mail from three separate political entities, all with the same address, in the same rented mail box.

Or why you would want to.

OK. One thing I can come up with is cost cutting. That’s a no-brainer. People who raise money for political causes need to trim their outgo so their income is maximized.

At this one mailing address, we have three political organizations getting mail:

1305 W. 11th St. #217 Houston, TX.

Here is an FEC record for the 1st (click to make bigly):

Here is an FEC record for the 2nd (same deal):
Here is the website for the 3rd (as above):

All three groups receive mail at one single rented mailbox at Post and Mail 4U

The addressee for the first group we know. He is Les Williamson. Williamson is a former finance director for the NRSC. I have no idea who Katie Reid is, whose name appears on the second FEC record. But apparently Les and Katie both bank at Chain Bridge Bank, NA 1445-A Laughlin Ave., McLean, Virginia 22101.
 
The 3rd group Stand for America is a PAC founded by former Ambassador Nikki Haley. They will also gladly take your money to fight socialism and stuff.

So why does it seem so slimy to me?

CNN is hosting the first live presidential debate between President Biden and TFG next week, and I already have my DVR set and my popcorn bought.

Next week.

Not September.

Not after even one nominating convention officially nominates a single presidential candidate. And no 3rd, 4th, or 5th party candidates will be invited to debate. It’s just Biden and The Convicted Felon.

There are lots of new features to the debate that Americans are unused to. There will be two commercial breaks in 90 minutes, but no conferences with campaign staff can occur during them. There will be no opening statements and 2 minute closing statements. Microphones will be muted except for the one candidate who has the floor. Debaters will have no prepared notes. And there will be no live audience.

My only question: Will He Show Up?

All through his criminal trial, TFG was adamant that he wanted to testify:

“Yeah, I would testify, absolutely,” 

“I’m testifying. I tell the truth, I mean, all I can do is tell the truth. And the truth is that there is no case. They have no case.”

And then later, TFG hedged, saying that his 1st Amendment rights were being denied him because of his gag order, prompting Judge Merchan to state that his gag order did not cover TFG’s testifying on his own behalf.

Then, after the jury returned 34 felony convictions, TFG explained: “I would have liked to have testified, but you would have said something out of whack like ‘it was a beautiful sunny day,’ and it was actually raining out.”

It is that progression of argument, plus the fact that the rules of the CNN debate are so stacked against The Former Guy’s preferred method of outburst and obfuscation, that I just don’t think that, in the end, there will be a debate next week.

Am I wrong?