Sen. Ted Cruz hit with another federal complaint over his podcast deal

The Campaign Legal Center (CLC), a money-in-politics watchdog group, has filed a complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee alleging that U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz violated the upper chamber's ban on members taking honoraria for speeches or other appearances. The complaint, filed Wednesday, argues a deal Cruz struck with San Antonio-based radio group iHeartMedia to distribute his The Verdict With Ted Cruz podcast violates a federal law that only permits corporations of making charitable donations of $2,000 or less in lieu of directly giving an honorarium to a senator. Those payments also can't be made to political action committees, or PACs, according to the law.