That’s the crux of a New York Times exposé claiming that Cruz took out a loan of up to $500,000 from the investment bank where his wife worked to finance his insurgent, Tea Party-inspired candidacy. Furthermore, he didn’t report the loan to the Federal Election Commission. Instead he told the media that the money came out of his own pocket, a story that testified to his family’s belief in his longshot primary campaign against then-Texas Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst.

It’s the type of revelation that could easily turn into fodder for attacks against Cruz, who just today shored up his anti-establishment credentials by receiving the endorsement of conservative power broker Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty.