A longtime ally of presidential candidate Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and his family, who is leading a super PAC in support of the Kentucky senator's campaign was recently indicted by a federal grand jury on allegations that he concealed payments to a former senator in an effort to garner support during the 2012 presidential campaign.
Jesse Benton, a member of the Paul family by marriage and consistent supporter of Rand and his father former Congressman Ron Paul's political campaigns was indicted along with two other former campaign officials who worked on the latter's 2012 presidential run, John Tate and Dimitri Kesari. Tate currently works along with Benton on heading up the super PAC supporting Rand Paul's 2016 campaign.
The defendants were charged with covering up payments to an Iowa state senator to win support for Ron Paul's 2012 run for the White House. Specifically, the charges were reported by The Washington Post as being "conspiracy, causing false records to obstruct a contemplated investigation and causing the submission of false campaign expenditure reports." The indictment alleges that the defendants paid over $70,000 to then-Iowa state senator Ken Sorensen to secure his support for Ron Paul's 2012 campaign. The charges go on to claim that the three men hid the payments from the Federal Election Commission and the FBI.
"Benton's is the only super PAC sanctioned by Senator Paul's campaign."
"Violating campaign finance laws by concealing payments to an elected official undermines our electoral system and deceives the public," Special Agent in Charge David LeValley told Politico regarding the charges against Benton, Tate and Kesari. "The FBI will aggressively investigate those who corrupt the integrity of our democratic process."
A close collaborator with the Paul family political machine
Benton has been a strong presence on the campaign trail with both Ron and Rand Paul in recent years. He married the elder Paul's granddaughter and has been a confidant for the family's two prominent politicians since 2007. Though no members of Rand Paul's ongoing campaign to win the Republican nomination were indicted, Benton is, of course, often tied to the family's political activities.
He runs the America's Liberty PAC, which is one of three super PACs supporting the libertarian-leaning Kentucky senator in his run for president. Benton's committee, however, is the only super PAC sanctioned by Senator Paul's campaign. Representatives from the senator's campaign, as well as spokespeople for the senior Paul and Benton have each asserted that the timing of the charges are likely political in nature.
Scheme offering payment for political support at the center of the indictment
The pay-for-endorsement plan at the center of the indictment is based around allegations that Benton, Tate and Kesari paid former senator Sorensen to change allegiances from former congresswoman and presidential candidate Michelle Bachmann to Ron Paul during the 2012 presidential election cycle, The Washington Post explained. Payments of this sort are violations of Iowa Senate ethics rules disallowing sitting senators from accepting fiscal reward for political support.
The scheme began to come to light last August, when Sorensen pleaded guilty to concealing campaign expenditures and obstructing justice. He explained that Ron Paul's campaign had discretely paid him $73,000 after he dropped his support for Bachmann's campaign and instead endorsed Paul for president.
Though court filings have not named the operative involved in the 2011 exchange of cash between Sorenson's wife and an operative from Ron Paul's campaign, a recording of a phone call posted by TheIowaRepublican.com had Sorensen identifying him as Kesari, according to The Washington Post.
"Benton's company and Tate have each received their own payments."
Benton's involvement in the pay-for-endorsement plan
Benton's own company and Tate have each received their own substantial payments from the America's Liberty PAC, The Washington Post reported. Thus far this year the latter has received $35,000 from the committee, while the former's company, Titan Strategies, was paid $35,000 in consulting fees and $27,500 in media buys by the organization.
Benton, though found to be firmly at the center of the scheme, denied involvement to the FBI. Following Sorensen's endorsement of Paul, for example, Benton allegedly had campaign officials delay a wire transfer to the former Iowa state senator so that it would not appear on the quarter's Federal Election Commission report. Payments were routed to Sorensen through two companies to cover up where they were going.
Politico reports that the reason Benton received a role with the America's Liberty PAC rather than with Senator Paul's presidential campaign was because of uncertainty about how far-reaching the investigation into his involvement with the 2012 payment scheme would be.