MRC Free Speech America update summary: In a 6-3 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court on May 16, 2022, the Court concluded "that Cruz and the Committee have standing to challenge the threatened enforcement of Section 304 of BCRA." It further concluded that the same "provision burdens core political speech without proper justification," affirming the District Court.
The following article is a supplement to the MRC Report: The Biden Administration Waged War on Free Speech with 57 Censorship Initiatives.
Initiative #38: The Censoring of Ted Cruz
Type of Censorship: Direct Action
Agencies Involved:
- Department of Justice
- Office of the Solicitor General
- Federal Election Commission (FEC)
Summary:
Under the First Amendment, a political campaign has a free speech right to express itself and individuals have a free speech right to express themselves by donating to it. This is because a campaign is not a piggy bank for the candidate, but rather the only formal vehicle he or she has to directly convey its message to the public without censorship or media manipulation.
The Federal Election Commission disregarded this right by imposing arbitrary timeframes on when a campaign could spend the money it had received. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) deliberately violated the FEC’s rule, effectively providing him standing to challenge the censorship regulation in court. President Joe Biden’s Office of the Solicitor General defended the FEC’s censorship all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Solicitor General Malcom Stewart contended that, because Cruz had violated the FEC’s time constraints, the administration was entitled to take $10,000 of the money Americans had donated to his campaign.
The FEC imposed its censorship on Cruz and his donors even while it refused to enforce in-kind contribution limits and political expenditure requirements on Big Tech firms which blatantly engaged in electioneering via censorship.
Key Individuals:
- Sean Cooksey, FEC Chair
- Merrick Garland, Attorney General
- Elizabeth Prelogar, Solicitor General
- Malcolm Stewart, Deputy Solicitor General
