Federal elections regulators are asking U.S. Sen Ted Cruz’s campaign to explain or to return nearly $1 million in campaign contributions that appear to have violated federal law.
The San Antonio Current reported Monday that the Federal Election Commission sent a letter to Cruz’s campaign on Sunday making notice that nearly 200 third quarter contributors to Cruz’s campaign exceeded federal limits. The U.S. law bars individuals from giving more than $3,300 to a candidate’s election committee. The Current noted that some of the donations exceeded the limit by thousands of dollars.
Cruz’s campaign offered no comment so far.
The FEC has sent similar letters to Cruz’s campaigns previously. On Aug. 7, the Commission raised questions about 45 donations made during the second quarter of this year in excess of federal limits. A week later, Cruz’s campaign acknowledged that it had taken 43 illegal donations and announced it would return tens of thousands of dollars to its donors.
This electoral cycle, Cruz has also faced scrutiny over a controversial deal to distribute his podcast Verdict With Ted Cruz. Under the deal, iHeartMedia made payments totalling $786,000 to a super PAC dedicated to Cruz’s reelection bid.
The letter gives Cruz’s campaign until Dec. 9 of this year to either refund all donations included or offer a detailed explanation of them.
“If you have not already done so, please inform the Commission of your corrective action immediately in writing and provide photocopies of any refund checks and/or letters reattributing or redesignating the contributions in question,” the letter states.
During his campaign, Cruz constantly claimed that he needed money to defeat his Democratic opponent Colin Allred. Democrats viewed Cruz as one of the few weak Republican Senators this election cycle and poured money into the race.
While the race is expected to be close, most forecasters predict Cruz will keep his seat. According to the last prediction by forecaster FiveThirtyEight, Cruz has an 84% chance of winning the race.
