Vernon Bryant/Staff Photographer
Ted Cruz spoke during the Texas delegation breakfast at the Republican National Convention on July 21.
By Caleb Downs From Dallas News

Published: 16 August 2016 12:38 PM
Updated: 16 August 2016 03:28 PM
A newly released financial disclosure report shows Ted Cruz accepted $45,000 in private flights last year during his presidential campaign.

The $45,000 was split between two flights, both originating out of Houston.

The more expensive of the two, a $30,000 charter flight in September to the Cayman Islands for Cruz and his family, came from Michael and Natasha Bleyzer.

Michael Bleyzer is the president, chief executive and founding partner of the private-equity investment firm SigmaBleyzer. He formerly held executive positions with ExxonMobil and Ernst & Young.

Bleyzer previously served as a member of the Foreign Investment Advisory Council in his home country of Ukraine, as well as the Texas Emerging Technology Fund Advisory Committee and the board of directors of the Houston Holocaust Museum.

The second flight, a $15,000 private flight in July 2015 to Fishers Island, N.Y., was a gift to Cruz from Lee and Allie Hanley.

According to a Bloomberg report, Cruz laid the groundwork for his 2016 presidential campaign on the deck of the Hanleys’ home in Palm Beach, Fla., in February 2014. The couple are reported to be prominent donors to Cruz.

In 2014, Cruz didn’t accept any private flights from donors, but he did accept a $450 ticket to a Houston Rockets basketball game.

For more on this story go to: http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/headlines/20160816-ted-cruz-accepted-30k-flight-to-cayman-islands-from-former-exxon-executive-during-campaign.ece