A political strategist who was pardoned by the former president after being convicted in a 2012 campaign finance scheme is facing new charges related to a reported 2016 plot to illegally funnel donations made by a Russian national to support then-candidate Donald Trump's White House bid.
[Video not showing up above? Click here to watch » https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQrQ13WGeMc]
Jesse Benton, 43, who was previously a top aide to former Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and later ran a pro-Trump super PAC, was charged this month, according to a federal indictment in Washington that was unsealed Monday. Also charged is Roy Douglas "Doug" Wead, 75, a conservative author and former special assistant to President George H.W. Bush.
According to the indictment, in the months before the 2016 presidential election, Benton and Wead solicited a U.S. campaign donation from a Russian national in violation of federal law, then filed false campaign finance reports to make it seem that the donation was from Benton.
Federal disclosures from that period make clear that the donation went to support Trump's election, though the recipient is not named in the indictment. Authorities allege Benton arranged for the Russian national to attend a fundraiser "and get a photograph with" the candidate "in exchange for a political contribution."
Benton and Wead "concealed the scheme from the candidate, federal regulators, and the public," according to the indictment.
The court filing does not name Trump, but details in the indictment match a $25,000 donation that Benton made in the fall of 2016 to a committee that raised money for the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee, campaign finance records show.
The unnamed Russian national, who is described as a business associate of Wead, wired a total of $100,000 from a bank account in Vienna, Austria, to a political consulting firm owned by Benton, authorities allege.
In return, Benton and Wead reportedly arranged for the Russian national to attend a September fundraiser in Philadelphia. The next month, Benton used his credit card to pay the $25,000 cost of the Russian national's ticket to the event and told a consultant for the related campaign committees that he had "bought the tickets and gifted them" to Wead and the individual.
Benton then paid off the $25,000 on his card using the funds wired by the individual to his consulting company. He kept the remaining $75,000, the indictment alleges.
Benton did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Wead referred questions to his attorneys, Jane Raskin and Jay Sekulow.
"Doug Wead is a respected author and supporter of charitable causes," Sekulow said in an email Monday night. "He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and will continue to respond appropriately in court."
The $25,000 donation to the Trump Victory committee appears to have been Benton's only contribution in federal races in the 2016 cycle, other than $5 to a pro-Trump super PAC earmarked for Trump's campaign committee, according to campaign finance records.
Spokespeople for Trump and the RNC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Separately, Benton and two other Ron Paul aides were convicted in 2016 of an attempt to buy an endorsement for Paul's 2012 presidential bid. The trio had been charged with concocting a plan to pay an Iowa state senator in exchange for him endorsing the campaign and helping it organize in early states.
Benton had spearheaded the 2014 reelection bid of Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., but resigned in August that year after details about the investigation into his role in the Paul campaign plot were revealed.
Benton later worked for the Great America super PAC, which supported Trump, but resigned in 2016 after the charges were filed. Late last year, then-President Trump pardoned Benton, with Rand Paul's backing.
Information for this article was contributed by David Weigel of The Washington Post.