GOP agents accused of transferring $ 25,000 from Russian citizen to Trump campaign in 2016

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Jesse Benton, 43, and Doug Wead, 75, were indicted in a six-count indictment and first appeared in DC District Court. They are accused of conspiring to violate campaign finance laws, of making an illegal foreign contribution and of helping to submit false files to the Federal Election Commission. Information about their defense lawyers was not immediately available.

Prosecutors said Benton and Wead donated $ 25,000 from the unnamed Russian donor to the Trump Victory Committee, a joint fundraising venture between then-candidate Donald Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee. The Russian then attended a fundraiser in September 2016 in Philadelphia, where he met Trump and took photos with the future president.

There is no indication in court documents that the case relates to the special advocate’s investigation, which examined the many links between Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia. The indictment says the Trump campaign did not know the money came from a foreign national.

According to the indictment, the Russian wired $ 100,000 to a company owned by Benton. Benton kept $ 75,000 and donated the remaining $ 25,000 to the Trump Victory Committee. The indictment does not name Trump or the committee. However, details in court documents match Trump’s travel schedule, and Federal Election Commission records confirm Benton’s donation.

Both defendants have worked in politics for decades and are well known in GOP circles.

Benton worked for Senatorial Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s re-election campaign in 2014, Senator Rand Paul’s first campaign in 2010, and former Rep. Ron Paul’s presidential campaign in 2012. He was acquitted in 2015 of lying to the FBI about a donation program for approval, but was convicted in 2016 in a related case. He got probation and Trump pardoned him last December.

Wead was an aide to former President George HW Bush, served with Benton during Ron Paul’s 2012 presidential campaign, and worked on Rand Paul’s Senate re-election campaign in 2016.

The Justice Department has cracked down on foreign influence in US politics in recent years by prosecuting straw donations, undisclosed lobbying, and election interference.

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