Friday, October 23, 2015

Benton & Tate go free in Iowa bribery case

Adviser to Ron and Rand Paul found not guilty in bribery case - Yahoo News Joseph Ax, Reuters:

October 23, 2015 - "A former top adviser to 2012 Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul's campaign has been found not guilty in connection with an alleged bribery scheme to buy an Iowa state senator's endorsement.

"A jury in Iowa on Thursday cleared Jesse Benton, Paul's former campaign spokesman, of lying to the FBI about the alleged bribery, which came in advance of the 2012 Iowa caucuses in that year's presidential race....

"Benton, who is married to Paul's granddaughter, has worked with the [America's Liberty] Super PAC supporting Paul's son Rand as he seeks the Republican nomination for president for the November 2016 election.

"'I'm happy justice has been served', Rand Paul, a U.S. senator from Kentucky, said in a statement on Friday.

"Another former Ron Paul adviser, Dmitri Kesari, was convicted of causing the filing of a false campaign finance record but found not guilty of obstruction of justice. The jury could not agree on three other counts against Kesari.

"The case grew out of allegations that Benton, Kesari and another adviser, John Tate, bribed Iowa state Senator Kent Sorenson with $73,000 to switch his endorsement from then-U.S. Representative Michele Bachmann to Paul days before the 2012 Iowa Republican caucus....

"A federal judge threw out all charges against Tate ahead of the trial this month, as well as several other counts against Benton.

"Tate is the founder and president of America's Liberty PAC, the Super PAC supporting Rand Paul."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/adviser-ron-rand-paul-found-not-guilty-bribery-201834005.html
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