“Well, now that’s strange, I thought they couldn’t do that.”

That’s the jist of the conversation overheard by customers at The Salon this weekend between Juanita Jean and her friend and confidant, Alfredo at the Dairy Queen.

Apparently, a whole bunch of county committees of the Republican Party of Texas all received the same amount of cash from Ted Cruz’s Truth and Courage PAC.

They can’t do that, it’s illegal. Alfredo isn’t wrong. According to a law firm that specializes in political law, county committees cannot coordinate with Super PACs and vice versa.

Extracted from their website:

“A Super PAC’s activities must also not be coordinated with a candidate, a candidate’s authorized committee, a political party committee, or their respective agents.”

Emphasis is mine.

And yet, according to the Federal Election Commission query results below, that is exactly what is happening in Texas.

The whole report is here.

See that? Twenty-one Republican county committees each received a $50 disbursement from Ted’s Truth and Courage PAC. You know, the one that he keeps full of money from his podcast gig with iHeartMedia.

In each case, the disbursement was for “STORAGE.”

OK, what do you store in 21 counties for fifty bucks a pop? On the same day in August? Never mind. It’s illegal for the conversation to happen. Let alone the disbursement.

Ted Cruz’s blithe disregard for the rules that govern our politics seemingly know no bounds. But yet, I once heard him say, “We need a president who is willing to uphold the law.” 

Yeah, Cruz. Yeah. You first.