I'm not questioning the legitimacy of the loan, just Ted's public response, which sounds like any other weasel politician. It's disappointing.
Brokerage margin loans are not very different from credit card cash advance checks. You don't need to ask anyone for the loan. You just write a check. I'm not surprised he overlooked the need to report the loan. I'm surprised anyone has to report a margin loan. A home equity loan requires loan officer approval and a home appraisal. A margin loan is simply a matter of writing a check from the brokerage account. As long as the amount of the loan is no more than half the market value of the stocks in the account, the check will clear.
There are no favors involved, whether at Goldman or anywhere else. You can get margin loans at a discount broker with way better rates than at Goldman, which charges more because it's Saks Fifth Ave compared to something like E-Trade's Old Navy. Cruz likely did not have a choice about the Goldman account - as long as his wife worked there, his brokerage account had to be there so that it could be audited for insider trading.