Jesse Benton

Jesse Benton
Born Jesse Reeves Benton
(1977-10-04) October 4, 1977
Philadelphia
Residence Louisville, Kentucky
Alma mater Mary Washington College
Occupation Political consultant
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Valori Pyeatt
Children 1

Jesse Reeves Benton (born October 4, 1977) is a self-described political operative known for working with conservative and libertarian organizations such as Americans for Tax Reform, the Liberty Coalition, and the American Conservative Union. Benton is strongly associated with the Paul family, serving as a high-ranking staffer for both Ron Paul and Rand Paul. He is married to Ron Paul's granddaughter. On August 5, 2015, Benton was indicted by a federal grand jury for felony charges arising from an alleged coverup Benton and colleagues conducted to conceal their expenditure of campaign money to buy the endorsement of an Iowa politician.[1]

Benton served as the campaign manager of Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who ran for re-election in 2014, until resigning on August 29, 2014 amid a scandal surrounding bribery allegations during the 2012 presidential election.[2]

Career

Benton's political career began in 2000 when he worked with the Republican National Committee.[3] Benton has been involved with various political candidates and organizations, including the American Conservative Union, Americans for Tax Reform, the Liberty Coalition, the Performance Institute, and Louisiana Senator David Vitter. Benton opened his own political firm, CIC solutions, working mostly in Pennsylvania and Virginia. In 2007, Benton became involved with Ron Paul's 2008 presidential candidacy. Benton started out as a volunteer, being attracted by Paul's message on spending, civil liberties, and foreign policy, but eventually became Paul's communications director.[4] After the end of Ron Paul's 2008 campaign, Benton joined the Campaign for Liberty, a political organization founded by Ron Paul to advocate for his political message.[5]

In 2010, Benton served as Rand Paul's campaign manager when Paul was elected Senator of Kentucky. Benton simultaneously served as Ron Paul's political director. Rand Paul had never run for office before, and was seen as an underdog.[6] Benton and Rand Paul became close, with the two speaking nearly every day and Benton moving into Paul's basement.[4] Rand Paul's ultimately victorious campaign was praised for its use of the internet fundraising and recruiting, and Paul's ability to knock off a more established candidate was described by a Republican strategist as establishing a new norm for Republican primaries.[7] After Rand Paul's election, Benton worked on Ron Paul's 2012 presidential campaign.[5] During the campaign, Benton urged Paul's delegates at the 2012 Republican National Convention to act with "decorum and respect."[8] Although Paul was not nominated, Benton praised Paul's followers for helping to elect Paul supporters to positions of leadership within the GOP.[9]

After the 2012 presidential election, Benton agreed to serve as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's campaign manager for his 2014 re-election campaign. In hiring Benton, McConnell hoped to avoid a Republican primary from a conservative challenger, although Tea Party Republican Matt Bevin would ultimately challenge McConnell.[10] The move was notable as McConnell had endorsed Paul's 2010 Republican primary opponent, Trey Grayson, and McConnell represented the "establishment" wing of the Kentucky Republican party while Benton's background was in "grassroots" advocacy.[11]

The move, which was followed by Rand Paul endorsing McConnell's re-election, began a political alliance between the two Republican Senators from Kentucky.[12] Benton was seen as instrumental in securing Paul's endorsement for McConnell.[13] Benton views his working with McConnell as part of a goal to unite different factions of Republicans, saying that "it's a really, really important mission to bring all Republicans and conservatives together."[4] Benton helped Rand Paul gain McConnell's approval of Paul's noted filibuster of future CIA Director John O. Brennan, in which Paul criticized the Obama Administration's use of combat drones.[14]

Citing the controversy surrounding Benton's alleged role in an Iowa bribery scandal during Ron Paul's 2012 presidential campaign, on August 29, 2014 Benton resigned as Mitch McConnell's campaign manager.[15]

In March 2016, Benton was hired by the pro-Trump "Great America" super PAC. [16]

Political views

Benton has described himself as both a political operative and activist. Benton views his role as helping to bring the "voice" of the Tea Party into a governing coalition.[12] Benton is an adherent of the Austrian School of Economics, believing that "The market can always do better. Ultimately the market is the best way to provide things to society."[17] Benton has contributed money to Ron Paul, Rand Paul, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, Kurt Bills, the National Republican Congressional Committee, and the Louisville and Jefferson County Republican Executive Committee.[18] In 2013, Benton sent out an email that claimed that Barack Obama wanted to create a national gun registration system; the claim was criticized by The Washington Post's fact-checker.[19]

Controversies

Benton has been criticized by many Ron Paul supporters who see Benton as being overly concerned with his own career,[20] incompetent,[12][21] and not truly a "hardcore Paulite." Thomas Woods, an historian, political analyst, and former Ron Paul adviser, criticized Benton for what he saw as downplaying Ron Paul's libertarian ideals in order to earn "GOP respectability,"[5] a notion echoed by other Paul supporters.[22]

In August 2012, conservative activist and former Ron Paul aide Dennis Fusaro released emails and phone conversations that implicated Benton in being involved in an attempt to bribe Iowa state senator Kent Sorenson in order to secure Sorenson's support of Ron Paul's presidential campaign. Sorenson initially supported Michele Bachmann's candidacy, but switched his support to Paul, prompting Bachmann to accuse the Paul campaign of bribing Sorenson.[23][24] Sorenson resigned after a special investigator found it "manifestly clear" he violated ethics rules by accepting money and then denying he'd done so.[25]

Fusaro then released a phone conversation regarding Benton's employment with the McConnell campaign, in which Benton said he was "sort of holding my nose for two years because what we're doing here is going to be a big benefit for Rand in 2016." The incident was referred to on Twitter as "nosegate."[26] In response to Fusaro's actions, Benson stated, ""It is truly sick that someone would record a private phone conversation I had out of kindness and use it to try to hurt me. I believe in Senator McConnell and am 100 percent committed to his re-election. Being selected to lead his campaign is one of the great honors of my life and I look forward to victory in November of 2014." The McConnell campaign stated that Benton would "absolutely" keep his job with the campaign.[27]

Benton resigned his post in August 2014 when details of a bribery scandal from Paul's 2012 presidential campaign came to light.[28]

Indictment

Benton was indicted[29][30] for allegedly concealing over $70,000 in payments to Iowa State Sen. Kent Sorenson to convince Sorenson to flip his presidential endorsement from Michele Bachmann to Ron Paul, a longtime Texas congressman. The indictment charged Benton and two other defendants with conspiracy, causing false records to obstruct a contemplated investigation, causing the submission of false campaign expenditure reports, concealing these payments from the Federal Election Commission and the FBI, and perjury. All but one of the charges against Benton were thrown out by a judge, and he was acquitted of the only remaining charge.[31][32]

Conviction

On Thursday, May 5th, 2016, Benton was found guilty of four federal crimes: conspiracy, causing false records, causing false campaign expenditure reports, and making false statements.[33][34]

Personal life

Benton is a Philadelphia native and an alumnus of Mary Washington College, where he was an economics major.[17] Benton is married to Ron Paul's granddaughter, Valori Pyeatt, and they have a daughter, Caroline. The two met when Benton arranged for Pyeatt to do an interview as part of Paul's presidential campaign.[4] In addition to doing interviews for the Paul campaign, Pyeatt has also helped to organize fundraising receptions. Pyeatt is the daughter of Ron Paul's daughter Lori Pyeatt, who has also worked on the Ron Paul campaign.[35]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/aug/05/ron-paul-2012-campaign-staff-indicted
  2. ↑ http://www.kentucky.com/2014/08/29/3402571_mitch-mcconnells-campaign-manager.html?rh=1
  3. ↑ Wilson, Reid (20 June 2013). "Republican Presidential Prospects Lay Groundwork for Invisible Primary". National Journal. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Trinko, Katrina (31 July 2014). "From Rand to Mitch". National Review. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 Weigel, David (13 September 2012). "Ron Paul's Campaign Manager Will Work for Mitch McConnell". Slate. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
  6. ↑ Boerma, Lindsey (25 March 2011). "A Tale of Two Pauls: Either Ron or Rand Likely to Jump Into 2012 Race". National Journal. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
  7. ↑ Dinan, Stephen (8 June 2010). "Political parties lose control as Internet aids challengers". The Washington Times. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
  8. ↑ Halloran, Liz (15 May 2012). "Ron Paul Spokesman: Candidate Unlikely To Ever Endorse Romney". NPR. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
  9. ↑ Doherty, Brian (15 May 2012). "Ron Paul Campaign Pull Back: Clarifications from the Campaign". Reason. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
  10. ↑ Sullivan, Sean (9 August 2013). "Why 'holding my nose' is a problem for Mitch McConnell". The Fix. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
  11. ↑ Weiner, Rachel (13 September 2012). "Mitch McConnell hires Ron Paul aide". The Washington Post. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
  12. 1 2 3 Wyler, Grace (13 September 2012). "Why Ron Paul's Campaign Manager Is Now Taking A Job With The GOP Establishment". Business Insider. Retrieved 8 August 2013.
  13. ↑ Howley, Patrick (27 March 2013). "Rand Paul endorses Mitch McConnell in 2014 Senate race, won't back tea party challenge". The Daily Caller. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
  14. ↑ Goldmacher, Shane (7 March 2013). "Inside the Rand Paul Filibuster". National Journal. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
  15. ↑ Bailey, Phillip M. (29 August 2014). "McConnell Campaign Manager Resigns After Iowa Bribery Probe Expands". WFPL.org. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  16. ↑ Isenstadt, Alex (11 March 2016). "Pro-Trump PAC hires GOP veteran as strategist". Politico. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
  17. 1 2 Donadio, David (25 February 2008). "What's Your Story? Jesse Benton". Doublethink Online. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
  18. ↑ Cooper, Kent. "Liability Meter Rising on McConnell Campaign Manager". Roll Call. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
  19. ↑ Kessler, Glenn (30 January 2013). "A McConnell aide's over-the-top claim about a 'national gun registration scheme'". The Washington Post. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
  20. ↑ Weber, Doug (8 February 2013). "Ron Paul Network Was Lucrative for Jesse Benton". Open Secrets. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
  21. ↑ Wenzel, Robert (18 May 2012). "Jesse Benton's $586,616 Take as a Result of the Ron Paul Campaign". Economic Policy Journal. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
  22. ↑ Doherty, Brian (11 September 2012). "Ron Paul's Political Director Jesse Benton Quits Campaign for Liberty". Reason. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
  23. ↑ Robinson, Craig (7 August 2013). "In His Own Words: Sorenson Confirms Payment for Ron Paul Endorsement". The Iowa Republican.
  24. ↑ Choma, Russ (7 August 2013). "Ron Paul Campaign Accused of Trying to Buy Iowa Endorsements". Open Secrets. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
  25. ↑ http://www.huffingtonpost.com, 10/02/13, Kent Sorenson Quits After Report On Michele Bachmann Campaign Money by Ryan J. Foley
  26. ↑ Meador, Jonathan (8 August 2013). "'Nosegate' Puts McConnell Campaign Manager Jesse Benton Under Fire". WFPL News.
  27. ↑ Martin, Jonathan (8 August 2013). "Top McConnell Aide 'Holding My Nose' to Help Rand Paul". The New York Times.
  28. ↑ Youngman, Sam (August 29, 2014). "Mitch McConnell's campaign manager resigns after Iowa bribery scandal deepens". kentucky.com (Lexington Herald-Leader). Retrieved January 2, 2015.
  29. ↑ "Three Member of 2012 Presidential Campaign Staff Charged with Concealing Payments Made to State Sentor". The United States Department of Justice. Retrieved 2015-08-05.
  30. ↑ "Rand Paul super PAC head indicted over alleged 2012 campaign finance violations". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2015-08-05.
  31. ↑ http://thebullelephant.com/charges-dismissed-against-john-tate-and-jesse-benton-mostly/
  32. ↑ http://atr.rollcall.com/jesse-benton-acquitted-campaign-fraud-case/
  33. ↑ US V Jesse Benton (30 July 2015). "Department of Justice". Retrieved 5 May 2015 – via www.justice.gov.
  34. ↑ "Trump super PAC strategist found guilty of 2012 campaign-finance violations". Washington Post. Retrieved 2016-05-05.
  35. ↑ Mosk, Matthew (27 May 2008). "Ron Paul's Campaign Is a Family Business, FEC Reports Show". The Washington Post. Retrieved 9 August 2013.

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