DOJ indicts Jesse Benton and John Tate

[Carlybee]

Bentonism. Kinda like Botulism, only worse.

Another sigworthy

 

[Legend1104]

Why in the world did you post this in the Rand section? This is about certain people from Ron's 2012 campaign.

Because Fox News already has mentioned it and said that Rand may have to answer for it during the debates so they are already trying to use it to hurt him.

 

[Matt Collins]

Seems obvious to me the timing is political being the day before the first debate. Sounds like a Rove tactic. Let's not fall for the propaganda until there is a verdict.

 

[Matt Collins]

Let 'em fry.

Don't you think maybe there should perhaps be a fair trial and due process first?

 

[Matt Collins]

Do you recall that this was the move by Benton that gave Santorum the victory in Iowa?

Sorenson was supporting Michelle Bachman. That was beneficial to Paul because Bachman was taking votes away from Santorum. Then, after Sorenson was bribed to support Paul, Bachman's campaign collapsed, her support went to Santorum, and then he won Iowa.

It was a desperate move to stop Ron Paul from winning Iowa.

There is no polling to support this idiotic assertion.

 

[DevilsAdvocate]

Seems obvious to me the timing is political being the day before the first debate. Sounds like a Rove tactic. Let's not fall for the propaganda until there is a verdict.

Yeah but didn't Rand set himself up for this? He gave them the ammunition, all they had to do was pull the trigger. Why was Benton appointed to the SuperPac?

 

[Matt Collins]

The nail in the coffin for Rand's presidential campaign?

Benton has singlehandedly destroyed this entire movement. Killing the Ron Paul campaign TWICE, and now he's back to take Rand down too.

Uh no, incorrect. Not even close. Jesse has nothing to do with Rand's campaign at all.

 

[cajuncocoa]

Seems obvious to me the timing is political being the day before the first debate. Sounds like a Rove tactic. Let's not fall for the propaganda until there is a verdict.

Could have been avoided. We told you so.

 

[Matt Collins]

Apparently Rand was the only one who couldn't see this coming, or he wouldn't have been allowed anywhere near his super PAC. Benton should have been kicked to the curb, the second these allegations surfaced. The timing of the announcement should have been expected.

The timing of the indictment is obviously politically motivated and anyone who denies that is a fool, but it is also true that Benton shouldn't have been put in charge of the Super PAC. I don't know what Rand was thinking.

Rand had nothing to do with Jesse being in charge of the SuperPAC, the two can't coordinate.

 

[Carlybee]

Rand had nothing to do with Jesse being in charge of the SuperPAC, the two can't coordinate.

Who made that decision then?

 

[DevilsAdvocate]

Rand had nothing to do with Jesse being in charge of the SuperPAC, the two can't coordinate.

I wasn't aware of this. Is this true??? If it is true, then the media has no justification attacking Rand on this issue.

 

[Matt Collins]

So people who like the Constitution are supporting the enforcement of an unconstitutional law?

 

[Brett85]

Are Benton and Tate going to resign from the Super Pac while the trial is going on? That seems like the smart thing to do. I don't know whether they're guilty or not, but it's necessary to keep this as far away from Rand as possible.

 

[Matt Collins]

It is just sooo discouraging how controlled we all are.... and how the whole system is rigged. It really just infuriates me...

1.) released day before debates
2.) front page yahoo, cnn etc... RAND PAUL's super PAC head charged ... etc...

Then of course, all the news outlets propagate it and promote it.. its like a well oiled manipulative machine.

I'm just amazed at how organic government and its parasitic carryons have become. Literally moving and manipulating to keep its power intact.
It's becoming too powerful to overcome, imho.

And whats worse is that lots of liberty-minded people are buying into it

 

[acptulsa]

So people who like the Constitution are supporting the enforcement of an unconstitutional law?

Not everyone here is inclined to share The Establishment's view that free speech means money as much as it means speech.

Now. Would you care to back up your assertion that Rand Paul genuinely had nothing to do with Benton's selection, or are you still allergic to making yourself useful?

 

[Dianne]

FOX is all over it. Cameron was on, and the only thing he could say about Rand was this latest, breaking news on the indictments. He said Rand will not mention it again, unless of course he is questioned about it at tomorrow night's debate.

FOX and Bush have bitch raped Rand. I'm not even going to watch that sucking garbage FOX tomorrow night. I have to laugh too, that the idiot Wallace was laughing an hour or so earlier at how campaigns are preparing for the twitter, facebook spin during and after the debate. That showed someone from the Rand Paul campaign working on social media. Chris Wallace, laughs and says the guy wasn't doing it correcting and turns out to be some guy living in his mother's basement.

They are going for Rand ..................................... WOW .

 

[DevilsAdvocate]

Rand had nothing to do with Jesse being in charge of the SuperPAC, the two can't coordinate.

I've done a Google search on this, and it seems that Rand gave Benton the green light to head the PAC, which he officially endorsed.

http://www.nationaljournal.com/2016...ps-jesse-benton-to-run-his-super-pac-20150406

The PAC went on to utterly bomb in a tremendously embarrassing fashion. The failure of the PAC is scaring away donors and supporters.

http://www.targetliberty.com/2015/07/rand-paul-super-pac-bombs.html

 

[presence]

http://www.wsj.com/articles/longtim...h-making-illegal-campaign-payments-1438801636

• Politics

[h=1]Longtime Rand Paul Aide Charged in Campaign-Payment Coverup[/h] [h=2]Jesse Benton indicted along with two others who worked on Ron Paul’s 2012 campaign[/h]

ENLARGE
Jesse Benton, left, with Ron Paul in Atlantic, Iowa, in 2011. Photo: Charles Dharapak/Associated Press



By Rebecca Ballhaus

Updated Aug. 5, 2015 5:08 p.m. ET 20 COMMENTS

A longtime aide to Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul was indicted Wednesday on federal charges over payments allegedly intended to secure an endorsement for Ron Paul’s 2012 presidential campaign.
Jesse Benton, who now leads the super PAC backing the Kentucky senator’s presidential bid, was indicted along with two others who worked with him on Ron Paul’s 2012 campaign.
Federal prosecutors allege that in 2011, Mr. Benton, along with John Tate, who is now president of Rand Paul’s super PAC, and Dimitrios Kesari, who served as deputy national campaign manager on Ron Paul’s 2012 campaign, arranged to pay then-Republican Iowa state Sen. Kent Sorenson more than $70,000 to shift his support from then-Rep. Michele Bachmann to Ron Paul, Rand Paul’s father.
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The alleged wrongdoing happened before Messrs. Benton and Tate joined Rand Paul’s super PAC. Prosecutors said the staffers concealed the payments from Ron Paul.
The indictment is likely to complicate Rand Paul’s bid for the Republican presidential nomination, which is struggling to gain traction. The first-term Kentucky senator is slipping in the polls and last month announced a lackluster fundraising haul of $7 million.
The payments allegedly amounted to about $8,000 a month and were reported to the Federal Election Commission as “campaign-related audiovisual expenditures,” prosecutors said. The campaign routed the funds through a film-production company and another firm run by Mr. Sorenson, according to the indictment dated July 30.
After Mr. Sorenson switched his support to Ron Paul in late 2011, Mrs. Bachmann publicly charged the Ron Paul campaign with paying for the endorsement, saying in a news conference that Mr. Sorenson had told her that was the case. At the time, Mr. Sorenson denied the accusation.
Mr. Sorenson pleaded guilty in August 2014 to causing the Paul campaign to falsely report its spending to the FEC and to obstructing justice. He hasn’t yet been sentenced.
The super PAC run by Mr. Benton, America’s Liberty PAC, raised just $3.1 million in the first half of the year, a fraction of what outside groups backing other presidential candidates raised.
Rand Paul also has two other super PACs backing his campaign, one of which is run by former FreedomWorks president Matt Kibbe.
Roscoe Howard, Mr. Benton’s attorney, on Wednesday criticized the indictment as “character assassination for political gain.”
“Jesse Benton, a prominent conservative Republican, has cooperated with the government during its multiyear investigation,” he said. “That this indictment is now suddenly announced on the eve of the first Republican presidential debate strongly supports our belief that this is a politically motivated prosecution designed to serve a political agenda, not to achieve justice.”
Ron Paul said in a statement that he was “extremely disappointed in the government’s decision” and called the indictment’s timing “highly suspicious, given the fact that the first primary debate is tomorrow.”
America’s Liberty PAC didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
A spokesman for Rand Paul’s campaign focused on the timing of the indictment. “Senator Rand Paul is disappointed that the Obama Justice Department chose to release this just prior to the highly anticipated first Republican presidential debate,” the spokesman said in a statement. “It certainly appears suspiciously timed and, possibly, politically motivated. Additionally, these actions are from 2012 and have nothing to do with our campaign.”
A federal grand jury in the district court for the southern district of Iowa indicted the three former Ron Paul staffers on charges of conspiracy, obstructing an investigation, causing false reports of campaign spending to be filed with the FEC, and scheming to make false statements to the FEC. In addition, Mr. Benton was charged with making false statements to the FBI, and Mr. Kesari was charged with obstruction of justice.
Messrs. Benton and Tate are scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 3.
“Federal campaign finance laws are intended to ensure the integrity and transparency of the federal election process,” said Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell in a statement. “When political operatives make under-the-table payments to buy an elected official’s political support, it undermines public confidence in our entire political system.”
Mr. Benton is well-known in Republican—especially libertarian—circles as a close confidante of the Paul family. He served on Ron Paul’s 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns and worked as Rand Paul’s campaign manager in his Senate bid in 2010. He is married to the younger Mr. Paul’s niece.
For a time, he managed the 2014 re-election campaign of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) before stepping down last August after Mr. Sorenson’s guilty plea. At the time, he cited “false’’ and ”unsubstantiated media rumors" about his role in the alleged payment of Mr. Sorenson.
The indictment cites emails sent among the three charged staffers in which they appear to discuss the purpose of the campaign expenditures being routed to Mr. Sorenson. In June 2012, Mr. Tate emailed Mr. Kesari about an invoice from the film-production company through which Mr. Sorenson’s funds were allegedly sent, the indictment states. “What is this? What is it for, who is it? Why do we keep paying them? The last payment was supposedly the last.”
Mr. Kesari allegedly responded: “This is the last payment for Kent Sorenson. The deal Jesse agreed to with Kent.”
Corrections & Amplifications:
Jesse Benton was charged in connection with covering up campaign payments. An earlier headline on this article incorrectly stated he was charged with making illegal campaign payments.

 

[CPUd]

I wasn't aware of this. Is this true??? If it is true, then the media has no justification attacking Rand on this issue.

It's probably what we'll hear from Rand's campaign and Rand himself. It plays kinda weak in the press, but they usually move on to other things after that. Ted Cruz did something similar on one of the Sunday shows when they asked him if he had contacts in his superPAC.

 

[Matt Collins]

I wasn't aware of this. Is this true??? If it is true, then the media has no justification attacking Rand on this issue.

Duh..... but they do it anyway, this is politics where no one plays fair