Two GOP Operatives Charged By DOJ

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GOP Operatives
GOP Operatives

Two GOP operatives are now being charged by the Department of Justice due to the fact that they were attempting to bend the rules.

It looks like a former senior aide to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senator Rand Paul is now in big trouble. He was indicted earlier this month for allegedly funneling $25,000 from a wealthy, anonymous Russian benefactor to Trump’s reelection efforts in 2020. Yeah, you read that right. Only $25,000.

But before I digress too much, here is the big picture: the Justice Department is alleging that Jesse Benton, 43, the husband of the niece of Rand Paul and a veteran GOP staffer himself, had orchestrated a scheme where he would conceal this illegal foreign donation with Doug Wead, another GOP operative.

The details are as follows: the indictment was unsealed on Monday, and it alleged that there was a convoluted money trail from this unnamed Russian national through the consulting firm run by Benton and going to a Trump joint fundraising committee.

This Russian national was determined to underwrite this Trump fundraising event so that he could get a photo with the former president, according to communications between both Benton and Wead as noted in the indictment.

The indictment is alleging that Benton had received up to $100,000 from the Russian national and passed on 25% of that money to the joint fundraising committee. He is also being accused of pocketing the remaining $75,000.

Benton and Wead each face six different criminal charges, including conspiracy and abetting a foreign political contributor.

Neither Benton nor Wead have been commenting on the matter.

These GOP operatives were previously convicted Wead of filing false statements in connection to a scheme to funnel money from Ron Paul’s 2012 presidential campaign to a well-known Iowa politician who had backed Paul in that state’s presidential caucus.

Trump pardoned Benton in the December prior to him leaving office.