Political leanings: Republican/Pro-Ted Cruz Super PAC
Spending target: Unknown
The Stand for Truth super PAC was formed in November 2015 “to support conservative candidates like Senator Ted Cruz in their fight to bring the United States back to the principles and values that make America great,” according to its website. The group pledged to spend at least $4 million on TV ads promoting Cruz for president in early primary and caucus states.
Little was known about Stand for Truth’s funding until it filed its year-end report with the Federal Election Commission in January. The report showed that the group raised more than $2.4 million in 2015. The group’s most generous donors were Goldcrest Investments CEO Adam Ross and his wife, author Tara Ross, who each gave $500,000. It also received $150,000 from Research Affiliates chairman Rob Arnott and $100,000 from Michael Adams, a former Bechtel Group executive, who hosted a fundraiser for Cruz at his home in McLean, Virginia.
The super PAC also has received more than $1 million from corporations and limited liability companies. Those LLCs allow individuals “to set up shell companies that hide the owner’s true identity,” according to a Sunlight Foundation report. That makes it difficult to uncover who is giving money to the super PAC, which must disclose its donors.
As of Feb. 16, the group had spent over $5.2 million on ads — more than $2 million in support of Cruz, another $2 million attacking Marco Rubio on immigration and national security, and another $1 million attacking Donald Trump for not being sufficiently conservative.
Eric Lycan, a member of the Republican National Lawyers Association and former counsel to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s reelection campaign, is the super PAC’s attorney. He confirmed to CNN that Josh Robinson is the “main hand behind the super PAC” and Hal Lambert is another “leading force behind the group.”
Robinson is a former political director for the Republican Governors Association and the co-founder of political and media strategy firm RedPrint Strategy.
Lambert, who stepped down as Texas GOP finance chairman in early 2015 to join Cruz’s presidential campaign as its finance co-chair, is the founder of investment firm Bridge Point Capital. Lambert had previously contributed to Cruz’s 2012 Senate campaign, and he and his wife, Elaine, were early donors to Cruz’s presidential campaign.
Fact-checking Stand for Truth
Rubio’s Plan for ‘Sanctuary Cities,‘ Feb. 19, 2016