A Texas fracking company owned by billionaire Republican donors got a $35 million government pandemic relief loan this spring, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.
ProFrac Holdings, owned by Dan and Farris Wilks, applied for and received the loan even as it was going on a West Texas buying spree, scooping up oil and gas companies.
Key to the loan application: U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, whose campaigns have been a major benefactor of the Wilks' largesse, and who helped convince the Trump administration and the Federal Reserve to change the rules for pandemic loans to ensure oil and gas firms could participate, the Journal reported.