Cruz Says Failure To Disclose 2012 Goldman Sachs Loan Was ‘Filing Error’

Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas meets with attendees Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, during a campaign stop at Granite State Indoor Range in Hudson, N.H. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
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Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) accepted a loan from Goldman Sachs, his wife’s employer, to help him contribute personal funds to his 2012 Senate campaign, but he did not disclose the loan in campaign finance reports, according to a report published in the New York Times on Wednesday.

Although Cruz did not include the loan on disclosure forms filed to the Federal Elections Commission (FEC), he later disclosed the Goldman Sachs loan, as well as another loan from Citibank, to the Senate, according to the Times.

The Texas senator defended his actions on Wednesday evening, noting that he did disclose the loan in some form, even if he failed to do so with the FEC.

CNN’s Dana Bash asked Cruz to explain his “very large loan” from Goldman Sachs following a campaign event in South Carolina.

“The premise of your question is not right,” Cruz responded. “Heidi and I when we ran for Senate, we made decision to put our liquid net worth into the campaign. And so we did so through a combination of savings — liquidating our savings accounts — through a combination of selling assets, and then we had a brokerage account that has a standard margin loan that any brokerage account has, and we borrowed against the stocks and assets that we had under ordinary terms.”

“Those loans have been disclosed over and over and over again on multiple filings. If it was the case that they were not filed exactly as the FEC required, then we’ll amend the filings,” the Texas senator continued. “But all of the information has been public and transparent for many years. And that’s the end of that.”

Cruz added to reporters that it was simply a “technical and inadvertent filing error,” according to Buzzfeed News.

According to the New York Times, Cruz took out loans totaling up to $1 million, and the loan from Goldman Sachs was up to $500,000. Cruz spokeswoman Catherine Frazier told the Times that the Goldman Sachs loan was used in the senator’s 2012 race.

Frazier told reporters on Wednesday that the campaign is asking the FEC “what their recommended action is,” according to Buzzfeed News.

Cruz paid off the entire Citibank loan and a large portion of the Goldman Sachs loan in 2012, but has not yet completely paid off the Goldman Sachs loan, according to the New York Times.

It was not improper for Cruz to accept a bank loan to help fund his Senate campaign, but election rules require candidates to disclose those loans, according to the Times.

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