Head of commission hearing complaint against Ted Cruz once worked for the senator

The chairman of the federal commission looking into an ethics complaint about U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz's controversial podcast syndication deal once worked for the Texas Republican, raising concerns about his ability to be impartial in the case. Sean J. Cooksey, a Trump appointee who chairs the Federal Election Commission, served as Cruz's deputy chief counsel in 2018, according to his LinkedIn profile. From 2019 until joining the FEC in 2020, Cooksey served as general counsel for U.S. Senator Josh Hawley, R-Missouri.