Posted on 03/26/2016 3:02:04 PM PDT by drewh
Texas senator Ted Cruz has allegedly had extramarital affairs with at least five different women – and been paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep it quiet, according to reports.
The devastating claims about the avowed Evangelical Christian, published in the new issue of the National Enquirer, reports that investigators are looking into the alleged affairs and that Cruz may be victim of a ‘dirty tricks’ campaign aimed at derailing his campaign for the Republican nomination. Blurred pictures of the five alleged mistresses are in the article. As of this writing, three of the women have been unmasked by other sources.
UPDATE: The UK Daily Mail reports that Republican strategist Liz Mair – who runs an anti-Trump super-PAC – identified the women on Twitter. Mair’s Super-PAC was the one who published the Internet adverts mocking Trump’s wife Melania (see below).
Cruz has denounced the Enquirer article as “garbage” and “complete and utter lies,” and blamed rival Donald Trump “and his henchmen” for the piece.
Third-pary sources claim three of the alleged women are (L-R) Katrina Pierson, Third-party sources claim three of the alleged women are (L-R) Katrina Pierson, Sarah Isgur Flores, and Amanda Carpenter. Katrina Pierson, US Congress candidate Distrct 32 Katrina Pierson First is current Trump spokeswoman Katrina Pierson, according to Political Insider. Pierson rose through the ranks of Tea Party activism to run for Congress in the Texas 32 District, eventually working on Ted Cruz’s senate campaign as an advisor.
Pierson has flatly denied the rumor of an affair with Cruz, telling blogger Gateway Pundit, “it’s ridiculous. Anyone with half a brain knows it’s false [….] I don’t think the article is true. I can’t see Cruz being like that [….] All I know is it’s not me. There’s a reason they don’t use my name. They know it’s BS.”
Sarah Isgur Flores Second is Sarah Isgur Flores, who was also campaign manager for the failed presidential campaign of Carly Fiorina. She describes herself on her Twitter profile as, “Republican strategist and campaign junkie. Texan by birth, lawyer by education, cat lady by choice.”
The Washington Post reports that a Ted Cruz Super-PAC, Keep the Promise I, sent a Carly Fiorina Super-Pac, Carly for America “CfA,” US$500,000.
That distribution from one candidate’s Super-PAC to another, raised the eyebrows of the Federal Election Commission who inquired about the rather unusual transaction.
It is being speculated on social media that Keep the Promise I made the donation to Fiorina’s Super-PAC to keep the alleged affair quiet.
Although they’re rarely enforced, the law allows for criminal prosecution for official campaigns coordinating with their own PACs, as a “hush money” payout would seem to be
Amanda Carpenter Amanda Carpenter The third woman is Amanda Carpenter, a conservative activist, CNN commentator, and writer for the Mark Levin radio show. Carpenter infamously created a ‘blacklist’ of people who endorsed campaign rival Donald Trump.
In 2013, Carpenter began working for Cruz as Speechwriter and Senior Communications Advisor, and was promoted to Communications Director in October 2014. She left in July 2015.
Carpenter is married to conservative journalist Chris Kinnan, who joined grassroots activist group Freedomworks in 2001 and is currently the Vice President of Interactive Media. The public affairs group is responsible for FreedomWorks’ media relations, intern relations, and government affairs outreach, including FreedomWorks’ Internet and e-mail communications and campaigns. The couple have two children.
Carpenter angrily denied having an affair with Ted Cruz on Friday, telling CNN during a heated exchange, “they can talk to my lawyer.”
The other two women pictured in the Enquirer article are allegedly an Austin-area school teacher, and a prostitute.
Rumors of the alleged Cruz affairs have been circulating for some time. Florida Senator Marco Rubio started the Twitter hashtag #TheThing to get word of the scandal out, but strangely it was not picked up by any media.
Conservative news outlet Breitbart allegedly knew of the scandal but refused to report on it. This is being fueled by a tweet made by the website’s writer, Allum Bokhari.
“I hate getting scooped,” he tweeted the night that news of the alleged affair broke.
However, Breitbart has controversially been very pro-Trump during the primary campagin. Several former Trump staffers told left-leaning news website Buzzfeed that Trump had been paying Breitbart for favorable coverage:
According to four sources with knowledge of the situation, editors and writers at the outlet have privately complained since at least last year that the company’s top management was allowing Trump to turn Breitbart into his own fan website—using it to hype his political prospects and attack his enemies. One current editor called the water-carrying ‘despicable’ and ’embarrassing,’ and said he was told by an executive last year that the company had a financial arrangement with Trump. A second Breitbart staffer said he had heard a similar description of the site’s relationship with the billionaire but didn’t know the details; and a third source at the company said he knew of several instances when managers had overruled editors at Trump’s behest. Additionally, a conservative communications operative who works closely with Breitbart described conversations in which “multiple writers and editors” said Trump was paying for the ability to shape coverage, and added that one staffer claimed to have seen documentation of the ‘pay for play.’
Buzzfeed also reports that Cruz’s wife Heidi was picked up by Austin police on the night of August 22, 2005. A heavily-redacted police report says Mrs. Cruz was found sitting on the side of the road, with her head in her hands. Although no signs of intoxication were detected, officers reporting to the scene felt she was a “danger to herself,” and escorted her home.
Ted Cruz explained to the website that his wife had experienced a “bout of depression” while making a transition at her high-pressure job at Goldman Sachs. However, given the new set of allegations, it is being speculated that the 2005 incident was Heidi’s reaction to finding out about at least one affair.
UPDATE: Sources indicate the teacher affair happened when Cruz was solicitor general from 2003-2008.
A few days before the ‘mistress bomb’ hit, a war of words broke out between Cruz and rival Donald Trump. A pro-Cruz Super-Pac published a nude photo of Trump’s wife Melania on Facebook ads in Utah ahead of the state’s caucus.
Trump_2016.03.23_anti-Trump-ad-slut-shames-wife-Melania
Trump angrily warned Cruz on Twitter, “Lyin’ Ted Cruz just used a picture of Melania from a G.Q. shoot in his ad. Be careful, Lyin’ Ted, or I will spill the beans on your wife!”
Left-leaning blog Crooks and Liars has speculated about the timing of events, noting Katrina Pierson’s connection between Trump and Cruz.
“The pictures they weakly disguise are pretty easy to match up with people,” C&J notes. “The image above suggests that Katrina Pierson is one of his so-called mistresses, as well as others.
“It feels to me like Trump dropped a whole lot of garbage over at the Enquirer to discredit Ted Cruz, and that sense is backed up even more by the fact that one of the lovely ladies is supposedly Donald Trump’s spokeswoman.”
UPDATE: Donald Trump issued a Facebook response to the scandal late Friday:
I have no idea whether or not the cover story about Ted Cruz in this week’s issue of the National Enquirer is true or not, but I had absolutely nothing to do with it, did not know about it, and have not, as yet, read it.
Likewise, I have nothing to do with the National Enquirer and unlike Lyin’ Ted Cruz I do not surround myself with political hacks and henchman and then pretend total innocence. Ted Cruz’s problem with the National Enquirer is his and his alone, and while they were right about O.J. Simpson, John Edwards, and many others, I certainly hope they are not right about Lyin’ Ted Cruz.
I look forward to spending the week in Wisconsin, winning the Republican nomination and ultimately the Presidency in order to Make America Great Again.
– Donald J. Trump
I think this actually helps Cruz.
We don’t need another Clinton.
Uh...not guilty.
By reason of unattractiveness.
Than you’d better not vote for the Donald.
You must mean Cruz, because the women are all attractive
How does the Bang of Eight help Cruz?
So what if Trump has support from one outlet, others have backing of entire media complex.
Ted and Heidi were apart for seven years, were they not? Both hold powerful positions where sex is plentiful and offered continually.
It would be hard to believe that neither Ted NOR Heidi refrained from, shall we say, extra curricular activities of a physical nature.
For all we know, they had an ‘understanding’, or even approved of extra marital affairs while apart.
Another of Trump’s advantages: we know he’s done immoral things, he knows we know, and he’s not going to drop out just because someone brings it up.
(Not saying it’s good, just that he’s not scared by mud slinging.)
That’s not what he said and you know it. It does appear though that the Donald likes Pecker since he’s such good friends with him.
it’s only the 50th time this story has been posted the last 2 days.
OMG, if Cruz starts winning, I can’t wait to see what the next smears will be. lil trumpies are pathetic
who knows what is true here.... but getting a matching tattoo with a female “friend” is a bit weird. My radar would go up, if a spouse or boyfriend did that. And Amanda’s tweets are a bit creepy during that time period.
"In the last election, Romney made the issue of ObamaCARE moot.
In this election, Cruz will make the issue of Huma moot.
Good thing he didn't get Mr. Trump to 'barter a better deal' with us."
I do. And because I’m sick of all the stupid “guilty” things by men on this forum!
It appears that even more women have come forward https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dB3VXwD6X0
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