Ted Cruz

Cruz's Jobs, Freedom and Security PAC spent nearly $200,000 on private flights in the first half of 2026 as he travelled nationwide to support Republican candidates, prompting criticism concerning appearances and political spending.

State of the evidence

Documented

Watchdog groups alleged that Cruz unlawfully solicited or directed more than $961,000 in payments by iHeart Media to Truth and Courage PAC, which supported his re-election, in connection with his 'Verdict with Ted Cruz' podcast.

Approaching the first anniversary of the Capitol attack, Cruz called it a 'violent terrorist attack'. Challenged by Tucker Carlson the following day, he called his own wording 'sloppy' and 'dumb' and withdrew it, prompting fresh controversy over his rhetorical accommodation of Trump's supporters.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Personally implicated

After the Uvalde massacre, Cruz claimed past experience showed that the most effective way to secure schools was to have armed law enforcement officers on campus. Available research did not demonstrate such preventive effectiveness.

Attribution

Personally implicated

Cruz lent $260,000 to his 2018 campaign in a transaction designed to create standing to challenge the federal $250,000 limit on post-election repayment of personal loans. In 2022, the Supreme Court ruled in his favour and struck down the restriction.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Protagonist is the complainant

Cruz was a leading senator demanding an emergency commission to examine fraud allegations and signed the objection to Arizona's results. After the Capitol attack, he maintained his objection vote while the Senate rejected the challenge 93 to 6.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Seven Democratic senators filed an Ethics Committee complaint against Cruz and Josh Hawley, arguing that they had legitimised false fraud allegations before the Capitol attack and requesting an investigation potentially leading to sanctions.

While millions of Texans experienced power and water outages during Winter Storm Uri, Cruz travelled to Cancún with his family, prompting national outrage and bipartisan criticism of his sense of responsibility.

State of the evidence

Admitted by the person

Attribution

Personally implicated

Cruz stated that the Biden administration had 'released over 7,000' COVID-positive migrants in McAllen and that these policies endangered the country, portraying immigration as a driver of the Delta surge.

Attribution

Personally implicated

The Ted Cruz for Senate campaign had reported approximately $1.064 million in loans as coming from personal funds without properly disclosing that they originated from a Citibank credit line and Goldman Sachs margin loan. The FEC found a reporting violation by the committee and imposed a $35,000 penalty.

State of the evidence

Documented

During Trump's first impeachment, Cruz claimed that Ukraine had 'blatantly interfered' in the 2016 US election. The evidence cited concerned statements by Ukrainian officials and revelations about Paul Manafort, but intelligence officials had not concluded that a Ukrainian government operation comparable to Russian interference occurred.

Attribution

Personally implicated

Having voted against a major post-Sandy relief package, Cruz defended his position during Hurricane Harvey by claiming that two-thirds of the bill had nothing to do with Sandy. Budget analyses instead concluded that most funding related to Sandy or disaster response.

Attribution

Personally implicated

Born in Calgary to an American mother, Cruz publicly discovered that he also held Canadian citizenship and formally renounced it in 2014. His birth outside the United States subsequently fuelled political challenges to his status as a 'natural born citizen' during the 2016 primary.

State of the evidence

Documented

Cruz's presidential campaign paid Cambridge Analytica for psychographic targeting based on data from tens of millions of Facebook profiles, under an arrangement for which many users had not knowingly authorised such political use.

State of the evidence

Documented

After a highly personal primary contest, Cruz refused to endorse Donald Trump at the Republican convention and was booed when urging delegates to 'vote your conscience'. In September, he announced that he would vote for Trump despite Trump's earlier attacks on his wife and father.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

During Chuck Hagel's confirmation as Defense Secretary, Cruz played video extracts and suggested that it was necessary to determine whether Hagel had received payments from foreign governments or radical groups. His questioning attracted criticism even from some Republicans.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Cruz led pressure to make government funding conditional on dismantling or defunding Obamacare, despite warnings from many Republicans that the strategy could not succeed. The confrontation ended in a sixteen-day shutdown without achieving its objective.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Before entering the Senate, Cruz, a lawyer at Morgan Lewis, was among appellate counsel for Shandong Linglong Tyre, a Chinese company found civilly liable for approximately $26 million for using stolen designs and trade secrets belonging to an American manufacturer.

State of the evidence

Documented