Cruz to Pay $200 Fine for Late Financial Report

U.S. Senate hopeful Ted Cruz is facing a $200 fine for failing to file his personal financial statement on time as required by law, his campaign acknowledged Tuesday evening.

Candidates for the U.S. Senate were supposed to turn in their personal financial statements nearly two months ago, but Cruz didn’t realize he was delinquent until The Texas Tribune asked him about it late last week, said his campaign manager, John Drogin.

Cruz, in a tight runoff with Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, filled out the form over the weekend and then sent it to Washington via overnight mail on Monday.

“We plan to send in that late fee, absolutely. If we are required to submit any other fees or penalties, we will do so right away, absolutely,” Drogin said. “Full compliance and full disclosure.”

The financial report was due on May 15. Drogin cited the hectic nature of the campaign and said it just slipped through the cracks.

“It was an administrative oversight,” he said.

Cruz, a talented and highly paid appellate lawyer, told the Tribune on Thursday that he did not know anything about a failure to file his personal financial disclosure.

“Not that I know of,” he said. “You can check with the campaign. I'm not aware of it.”

The new 14-page report did not change dramatically from the previous one filed a little more than a year ago. The recent disclosure shows that Cruz’s salary dropped slightly, from the $1.76 million that he reported last year to $1.57 million.

He reported six fewer legal clients generating $5,000 or more for his firm, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius. Some clients dropped off and new ones were added. There’s one controversial legal client that remains on the report, though — tire maker Shandong Linglong of China.

An American inventor won a $26 million verdict in a patent infringement lawsuit against the company. Cruz performed legal work on behalf of the company during the appeals process.

Dewhurst, a wealthy businessman who has dipped into his own fortune to help fund his campaign, has used the case to pound Cruz in TV ads, saying the former Texas solicitor general has put China’s interests above those of the United States. Cruz said his work on the lawsuit was minimal.

Dewhurst faced criticism and an official investigation a few years ago for keeping most of his vast wealth hidden away inside a trust. He has revealed far more about his holdings in federal filings than he ever did on the less demanding state disclosure forms. Dewhurst had a much longer (134 pages) and more complicated report than Cruz. He filed the latest one on the due date — May 15.

Here is Cruz's disclosure report: