A federal jury Thursday convicted one former Ron Paul presidential staffer of scheming to secretly pay an Iowa senator to switch his endorsement but acquitted his campaign chairman.
Former deputy campaign manager Dimitri Kesari was found guilty of causing a false record but not guilty of obstruction of justice. The jury could not reach a verdict on three other charges: conspiracy, causing false campaign expenditure reports and engaging in a false statement schemes in a secret plan to pay former Iowa state Sen. Kent Sorenson $73,000 for switching his support to Paul from former Rep. Michele Bachmann just days ahead of the 2012 Iowa Republican caucuses.
Sorenson made his defection from the Bachmann campaign Dec. 28, 2011.
Jurors acquitted Jesse Benton, former Paul campaign chairman, of a single count of lying to FBI agents during interviews in 2014.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...n-deliberations-paul-staffers-trial/74252186/
"God is great," Benton said holding hands with his wife as they left the courthouse. "It feels good." Benton's defense team said they were happy with the verdict but still are concerned about the potential for new charges.
Federal prosecutors have 10 days to let U.S. District Judge John Jarvey know whether they plan a new trial for Kesari on the three charges where the jury deadlocked. Kesari faces up to 5 years in prison on the false-record charge, so the government may have more leverage with him as prosecutors explore a potential plea bargain.
The operatives kept payments from the Paul campaign to Sorenson off public expenditure reports by paying the state senator through a third-party audio/visual production company. Prosecutors contended that the payments had to be kept secret because Sorenson publicly denied being paid by the campaign when Bachmann made allegations of impropriety after his switch.
Defense lawyers for Benton said the former campaign chairman, who is married to Paul's granddaughter, was a harried manager who wasn't intimately involved in every aspect of Paul's campaign.
Paul himself testified in the trial for the prosecution but said he stands by Benton and believes the indictment was aimed at damaging the presidential aspirations of his son, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.
The verdict came despite prosecution witnesses who testified about pages of emails naming Benton in an attempt to bring Sorenson on board with Ron Paul's campaign in fall 2011 after he already had joined the Bachmann campaign. Other emails showed Benton approving invoices used to pay Sorenson.
During the trial, Sorenson testified that Kesari had become a close political and personal friend and that the former deputy campaign chairman had tried throughout 2011 to woo him into the Ron Paul camp. Kesari gave Sorenson's wife a $25,000 check written on the account of his wife's jewelry store in an Altoona, Iowa, restaurant two days before the switch, Sorenson said.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...backer-testifies-against-operatives/74030896/
Kesari's defense lawyer had argued that even though payments made to Sorenson were concealed, the practice isn't necessarily illegal and is actually widespread in political circles. He had contended that Sorenson was essentially an employee of the Ron Paul campaign, attending events with the Texas congressman in the days after his endorsement and recording a robocall for the campaign.
Sorenson pleaded guilty to two charges last year, including obstruction of justice, and faces 25 years in prison. He testified against the two former operatives in hopes of receiving a lighter sentence.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2015/10/22/ron-paul-staffers-iowa-trial/74396458/
Former deputy campaign manager Dimitri Kesari was found guilty of causing a false record but not guilty of obstruction of justice. The jury could not reach a verdict on three other charges: conspiracy, causing false campaign expenditure reports and engaging in a false statement schemes in a secret plan to pay former Iowa state Sen. Kent Sorenson $73,000 for switching his support to Paul from former Rep. Michele Bachmann just days ahead of the 2012 Iowa Republican caucuses.
Sorenson made his defection from the Bachmann campaign Dec. 28, 2011.
Jurors acquitted Jesse Benton, former Paul campaign chairman, of a single count of lying to FBI agents during interviews in 2014.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...n-deliberations-paul-staffers-trial/74252186/
"God is great," Benton said holding hands with his wife as they left the courthouse. "It feels good." Benton's defense team said they were happy with the verdict but still are concerned about the potential for new charges.
Federal prosecutors have 10 days to let U.S. District Judge John Jarvey know whether they plan a new trial for Kesari on the three charges where the jury deadlocked. Kesari faces up to 5 years in prison on the false-record charge, so the government may have more leverage with him as prosecutors explore a potential plea bargain.
The operatives kept payments from the Paul campaign to Sorenson off public expenditure reports by paying the state senator through a third-party audio/visual production company. Prosecutors contended that the payments had to be kept secret because Sorenson publicly denied being paid by the campaign when Bachmann made allegations of impropriety after his switch.
Defense lawyers for Benton said the former campaign chairman, who is married to Paul's granddaughter, was a harried manager who wasn't intimately involved in every aspect of Paul's campaign.
Paul himself testified in the trial for the prosecution but said he stands by Benton and believes the indictment was aimed at damaging the presidential aspirations of his son, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.
The verdict came despite prosecution witnesses who testified about pages of emails naming Benton in an attempt to bring Sorenson on board with Ron Paul's campaign in fall 2011 after he already had joined the Bachmann campaign. Other emails showed Benton approving invoices used to pay Sorenson.
During the trial, Sorenson testified that Kesari had become a close political and personal friend and that the former deputy campaign chairman had tried throughout 2011 to woo him into the Ron Paul camp. Kesari gave Sorenson's wife a $25,000 check written on the account of his wife's jewelry store in an Altoona, Iowa, restaurant two days before the switch, Sorenson said.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...backer-testifies-against-operatives/74030896/
Kesari's defense lawyer had argued that even though payments made to Sorenson were concealed, the practice isn't necessarily illegal and is actually widespread in political circles. He had contended that Sorenson was essentially an employee of the Ron Paul campaign, attending events with the Texas congressman in the days after his endorsement and recording a robocall for the campaign.
Sorenson pleaded guilty to two charges last year, including obstruction of justice, and faces 25 years in prison. He testified against the two former operatives in hopes of receiving a lighter sentence.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2015/10/22/ron-paul-staffers-iowa-trial/74396458/
