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Jesse Benton: GOP political operative convicted of funneling illegal foreign contributions

Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, November 17, 2022
Political Consultant Convicted for Scheme Involving Illegal Foreign Campaign Contribution to 2016 Presidential Campaign

A federal jury today convicted a political consultant for his role in funneling illegal foreign campaign contributions from a Russian foreign national to a 2016 presidential campaign.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Jessie R. Benton, 45, of The Woodlands, Texas, schemed with another political advisor to funnel political contributions to a 2016 presidential campaign from a Russian foreign national seeking to support, meet, and take a picture with the presidential candidate. Benton arranged for the Russian foreign national – whose nationality Benton concealed from the campaign and the candidate – to attend a political fundraising event for the campaign and to take a picture with the candidate.

As such attendance and engagement required a contribution, Benton caused the Russian foreign national to wire $100,000 to Benton’s political consulting firm for purposes of making an illegal foreign contribution to the campaign. To disguise the scheme, Benton created a fake invoice, which falsely identified the funds as payment for consulting services. Benton acted as a straw donor and contributed $25,000 of the Russian foreign national’s money to the campaign, falsely identified himself as the contributor, and pocketed the remaining $75,000. Because Benton falsely claimed to have given the contribution himself, the relevant campaign entities unwittingly filed reports with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) that inaccurately reported Benton – instead of the Russian foreign national – as the source of the funds.

Benton was convicted of conspiring to solicit and cause an illegal campaign contribution by a foreign national, effecting a conduit contribution, and causing false records to be filed with the FEC. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 17, 2023, and faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison on the top count. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman for the Southern District of California, U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves for the District of Columbia, and Special Agent in Charge Stacey Moy of the FBI San Diego Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI San Diego Field Office investigated the case.

Trial Attorneys Rebecca G. Ross and Michelle K. Parikh of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle L. Wasserman for the Southern District of California, while serving in her capacity as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, are prosecuting the case.
 
Remember the intense cry from Ron Paul community, over a decade ago, about how bad of a character this guy has

I met him very briefly & didn’t get a bad vibe

I guess they have been proven correct

Feel bad for Dr.Paul that his granddaughter is married to repeat trouble
 
Disgraceful and dumb. I gave him the benefit of the doubt so many times way back when because I wanted to believe he was smarter than people gave him credit for. So freaking stupid. Stuff like this is why I think politics is so gross now.
 
There are people that ride on the bus, drive the bus, work on the bus, own the bus, those that own the roads, and those that are intended to be under the bus.
 
GOP operative gets 1.5 years in prison for facilitating illegal Russian donation to Trump 2016 campaign

https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/17/politics/jesse-benton-sentenced-campaign-finance/index.html

According to evidence presented at trial, Benton helped a Russian national secure a ticket to a Republican National Committee event in 2016, where he would have the opportunity to meet and take a picture with Trump. The Russian national paid Benton $100,000 to get the ticket, prosecutors said.

Benton created a fake invoice suggesting he had received the money for consulting services, donated $25,000 of that money under his own name to the RNC to get a ticket to the event and pocketed the remaining $75,000.

Well, that one sounds like an actual crime, except for the fact that getting paid to help someone get a ticket to an event doesn’t sound illegal, unless there is some law against essentially reselling a ticket to a political party event to a foreign national. If that is the case, how many such incidents are prosecuted each year?

And if Benton took a no show job or sold finger paintings instead of taking cash, would it all be kosher?
 
Well, that one sounds like an actual crime, except for the fact that getting paid to help someone get a ticket to an event doesn’t sound illegal, unless there is some law against essentially reselling a ticket to a political party event to a foreign national. If that is the case, how many such incidents are prosecuted each year?

And if Benton took a no show job or sold finger paintings instead of taking cash, would it all be kosher?

He helped a foreign national donate to a political party. They can't take foreign donations.
 
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