Ted Cruz wins Iowa caucuses with anti-gay rhetoric that appeals to evangelicals, but his campaign is fueled, in part, by gay financiers from New York City

Ted Cruz and gay real-estate executive Mati Weiderpass

Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz won the Iowa caucuses last night, in part by using anti-gay rhetoric to appeal to Christian evangelical voters. But Cruz's campaign is fueled, to a significant extent, by gay financiers from New York, according to a new report.

Wayne Madsen, an investigative journalist based in Washington, D.C., reports that Cruz's run the the White House appears to be driven by stunning hypocrisy. Cruz questioned Donald Trump's "New York values" and has consistently condemned homosexuality. But the Cruz campaign seems to have a fondness for New York and the financial support of homosexuals.

Can this story get any more curious? Yes, it can. A dead body was found a few months ago at a luxury Central Park townhouse that was the site for a Cruz fundraiser.

The Wayne Madsen Reporter (WMR) is a subscription Web site, but we have received permission to report certain items from the site. The full Cruz article, dated February 1-2, can be read at the bottom of this post. Here's how Madsen sets it up, providing insight into a powerful group of gay money men known as the "Lavender Mafia":

Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio appear to have more things in common than merely their Cuban heritage. After Donald Trump launched a blistering attack on GOP presidential hopeful Cruz, Cruz responded by questioning Trump's "New York values." Trump cautioned Cruz by saying that while the junior senator from Texas claimed he did not care for New York values, he certainly was willing to accept New York campaign contributions. An examination of Cruz's financial support from New York yields close connections between the Christian evangelical, who has condemned homosexuality as a sin, and some of New York's top gay financiers and real estate moguls, all of whom are also major supporters of Israel. And one other "problem" for Cruz: there is a dead body involved.

After staking his political career on bashing equal rights for gays, including pushing for a constitutional amendment allowing states to ban gay marriage, on April 20, 2015, Cruz and his wife Heidi, a Goldman Sachs executive, were feted at a reception at the 230 Central Park South mega-townhouse of one of Manhattan's most well-known gay entrepreneurs, Ian Reisner, who was joined by his one-time partner, Mati Weiderpass. Reisner is a co-founder of Parkview Developers and a former managing director of the Bank of America and derivatives trader for Salomon Brothers. Weiderpass is a military veteran and former marketing manager for Swatch. At the reception, Reisner, who, as of last year, was a registered Republican, handed Cruz a check for $2700, the maximum amount permitted under federal election law. Reisner and Weiderpass previously donated to former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign. Among Reisner's and Weiderpass's circle of friends is Ken Mehlman, the former Republican National Committee chairman who is also gay.

The mid-town reception was not the only Cruz connection to New York's Wall Street gay community. Cruz has stated that openly-gay San Francisco investor Peter Thiel, is a good friend of his. Other gay New York businessmen also attended the political bash at the Reisner townhouse.

How does the dead body come into play? Madsen explains:

Six months [before the fundraiser], a 23-year old bar manager named Sean Verdi had been found unconscious in a bathtub in Reisner's townhouse, the very same private apartment where the Cruz reception was held. Verdi's social media pages referred to his fondness for parties in New York and Florida.

A half hour after emergency medical personnel arrived at Reisner's residence, Verdi was pronounced dead, reportedly from a drug overdose of a combination of cocaine and Ecstasy. The New York City medical examiner later concluded that Verdi died from acute intoxication from the ingestion of alcohol, ketamine, MDMA [Ecstasy], and ethylone. Reisner and Verdi, along with two other men, left the Bar-Tini Ultra Lounge in Hell's Kitchen, where Verdi served as manager, on the evening of October 29, 2014, for Reisner's townhouse. After Verdi became sick, Reisner claimed he put Verdi into the shower and then into the bathtub, where he was later found unconscious the next morning. The incident was publicized in the New York media, however, Cruz and his wife still agreed to attend a political reception at a location where an extremely suspicious incident had taken place a half-year earlier. After Verdi's death, Bar-Tini went out of business.

The financial support of Cruz did not sit well with many influential New York gays, who tend to be liberal. Writes Madsen:

After liberal gays found out about the Cruz reception, they immediately castigated Reisner and Weiderpass, even organizing a boycott of their gay-oriented businesses, which include the "Out NYC" hotel in Hell's Kitchen and the Pavilion nightclub and Sip-n-Twirl bar, both gay entertainment locales; the Blue Whale restaurant; and the Botel hotel in Fire Island Pines on Long Island. The Fire Island resort has been a longtime center for the production of gay porn and drag queen shows. Reisner's liaison to the Fire Island business community is Omar Sharif, Jr., the gay grandson of the late Egyptian actor. Reisner's plans include opening an Out Hotel in Chicago in Boy's Town, the gay entertainment district that, in the past, attracted such notable politicians as former GOP Representative Aaron Schock, then-congressman Rahm Emanuel, and an Illinois state senator named Barack Obama.

After being taken to task by New York's powerful and liberal gay community for hosting Cruz, Reisner defended the reception by claiming it was to thank Cruz for his unwavering support for Israel. The reception for Cruz was not Reisner's only fundraiser for an anti-gay Republican. The real estate magnate had also hosted a reception for Wisconsin's anti-gay GOP senator Ron Johnson. New York's politically-active gay community is sometimes called the "Lavender Mafia," because of their power and influence. While most of this mafia is liberal, there are those who support conservative causes and candidates. Former Texas Republican Governor Rick Perry, who recently endorsed Cruz, was involved with Texas's influential conservative Lavender Mafia and, as WMR previously reported, Perry himself is a member of that same grouping of conservative but closeted gay politicians.

Ted Cruz Gay Financiers by Roger Shuler