Nobody wants to read Ted Cruz’s crappy new book… except, apparently, Ted Cruz.
Documents recently released by the FEC suggest the Anti-Gay Senator spent more than $ 150,000 on copies of his own book using the money donated to his campaign in 2020.
Last September, Cruz published One Vote Away: How a Single Supreme Court Seat Can Change History, for which he received an advance of $ 320,000 from his publisher. According to FEC documents, his campaign spent $ 153,000 on Books-a-Million soon after it was published.
It’s not entirely clear which titles were purchased with this money, since the record simply lists the purchase as “books,” but records show the campaign spent $ 40,000 on October 15. Coincidentally, the following week, Cruz’s book ranked 9th on the NYT Best Seller List.
The campaign spent an additional $ 11,900 on “books” in early November. Coincidentally, the following week, Cruz’s book ranked 5th on the NYT’s bestseller list, dropping from nine spots to 14th the previous week.
The campaign spent an additional $ 111,900 on “books” on December 1; However, Cruz’s book didn’t end up making the list the following week, which also turned out to be the same time President Obama’s memoir was released, along with Dolly Parton’s new books and Michael J. Fox.
In addition to the $ 320,000 advance, Cruz receives 15% of each hardcover sale, 7.5% for each paperback sale, 25% for each e-book sale, and 15% for any book sold in. outside the United States.
Yahoo! reports:
It is not illegal for US senators to buy their own books using campaign funds, according to the FEC. But they need to make sure that royalties from book sales go to charity, not their own pockets.
In fact, Senators Tammy Duckworth, Elizabeth Warren and Tom Cotton all used campaign funds to purchase copies of their books. However, these purchases were all under $ 20,000.
Cruz is currently selling signed copies of the book (which costs $ 28.99) to anyone who donates $ 77 to his campaign. A spokesperson insists he “did not receive a dime in royalties”, although they declined to say what was purchased from Books-A-Million with those $ 153,000 in funds. campaign.
Earlier this year, Cruz was accused of illegally using $ 18,000 of campaign funds on Facebook ads to promote One Vote Away. And in 2015, he spent $ 122,000 to buy copies of his book A Time For Truth during his failed presidential campaign.
Graham Gremore is editor and editor at Queerty. Follow him on Twitter @grahamgremore.
