The Daily Populous Thursday June 20th, 2024 night edition
Authored by newsweek.com and submitted by Rock-n-roll-Kevin

On Tuesday, Capitol Press congressional reporter Pablo Manríquez published a series of what he said were "briefing documents on Ted Cruz donors" on X, formerly Twitter, before they were deleted from the platform with a message saying they had "violated the X Rules."

The papers appeared to have been written for Cruz, a Republican senator from Texas, ahead of upcoming meetings and contained information about various potential donors' families and professional backgrounds, political interests, and past donations. Manríquez posted unredacted photos of the documents, which also included personal information such as addresses and telephone numbers.

In recent years, Cruz has emerged as a committed supporter of Donald Trump, his party's presumptive 2024 presidential nominee, despite having run against him ahead of the 2016 election in a bitter primary campaign. In November, Cruz is set to face a challenge from Democratic Representative Colin Allred—with a recent YouGov and University of Texas survey putting the incumbent ahead by 46 percent to 33 percent.

On X, Manríquez wrote, "Someone, presumably a staffer, left a folder full of briefing documents on TED CRUZ donors in the Senate Refectory." He then shared photos of those documents in seven other posts, all of which have since been deleted for violating the platform's rules.

NEW. Someone, presumably a staffer, left a folder full of briefing documents on TED CRUZ donors in the Senate Refectory. A THREAD 🧵 — Pablo Manríquez (@PabloReports) June 18, 2024

The documents show that Cruz was due to meet eight donors, who had pledged $19,500 between them but had not yet paid, at the Capital Grille in Washington, D.C., at 7:30 p.m. on June 18. Biographical information was provided for the eight attendees, including a photograph of each.

Newsweek has contacted Cruz and X for comment by email outside usual business hours.

On Wednesday, the documents say Cruz is scheduled to meet Ronald Lauder, a billionaire businessperson and former U.S. ambassador to Austria under President Ronald Reagan, at 12 p.m. at a Washington, D.C., restaurant in part to "ask if he will contribute $119,200" to his senate campaign.

Two hours later, Cruz is due to meet with John Loeb Jr., a businessperson who served as the ambassador to Denmark under Reagan. The documents said he should also ask Loeb to "contribute $119,200" to his campaign fund. Later in the day, he is scheduled to meet publisher Marvin Shanken at his New York office, with the documents saying he should ask for a donation of $34,600.

The papers also detail upcoming meetings between Cruz and James and Barbara Reibel, from whom Cruz is set to request a $11,600 campaign donation, and Peter Thoren, described as the "gatekeeper" to Ukrainian-born businessperson Sir Leonard Blavatnik, from whom he should request $59,600.

Senator Ted Cruz on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on June 18. On Wednesday, a journalist shared on X what he said were briefing documents for upcoming meetings between Cruz and potential donors before they... Senator Ted Cruz on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on June 18. On Wednesday, a journalist shared on X what he said were briefing documents for upcoming meetings between Cruz and potential donors before they were deleted. More Andrew Harnik/GETTY

The violation notices on Manríquez's deleted posts do not say which rules they broke, but X's rules say, "You may not publish or post other people's private information (such as home phone number and address) without their express authorization and permission."

Manríquez later posted a 17-second video addressed to his "haters." He said in the clip, "Just a quick message to my haters who are calling me names on the internet for publishing Ted Cruz's donor itinerary for the next couple of days," before showing his middle finger to the camera.

rockum on June 19th, 2024 at 16:19 UTC »

> meet eight donors, who had pledged $19,500 between them

Once again we see how little money it takes to bribe our politicians. And the Republicans continually block any reform.

GaucheAndOffKilter on June 19th, 2024 at 15:39 UTC »

Isn't it illegal for the campaign to communicate with PACs? I would think soliciting money would fit that purpose

Rock-n-roll-Kevin on June 19th, 2024 at 15:26 UTC »

Still visible here:

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1803173087644418132.html