A Woodlands man will spend a year and a half in prison for funneling illegal foreign contributions from a Russian national to Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign to secure a photo with the former U.S. president.
Jessie R. Benton, a former campaign manager of Republican U.S. Senate leader Mitch McConnell, was convicted by a federal jury in November 2022 of conspiring to solicit and cause an illegal campaign contribution by a foreign national, effecting a conduit contribution and causing false records to be filed with the Federal Election Commission. The 45-year-old was sentenced to serve 18 months in prison by a federal judge Friday, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a news release.
Benton, who concealed the Russian national’s nationality from Trump and his campaign, arranged the meet-up for the picture at a campaign fundraising event, according to court documents.
Trump campaign got $25K, Benton pocketed the rest
To attend the fundraiser, guests had to provide a contribution to Trump’s campaign. Benton told the Russian national to wire $100,000 to his political consulting firm to conceal the illegal foreign campaign contribution, court documents show. A fake invoice, which falsely identified the money as payment for consulting services, was created by Benton to disguise the scheme.
VOTER FRAUD CONSPIRACIES: New details in A/C repairman’s assault tied to voter fraud conspiracy theory.
Acting as a straw donor, Benton falsely identified himself as the contributor and donated $25,000 of the foreigner’s money to Trump’s campaign. He pocketed the remaining $75,000, according to court documents.
Due to Benton falsely claiming that he made the contribution himself, Trump’s campaign “unwittingly filed reports” with the FEC that inaccurately described Benton as the source of the funds and not the Russian national, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
Trump had pardoned Benton for past conspiracy
Benton was pardoned by Trump in December 2020 after receiving two years of probation for conspiring to cause false records to the FEC. The pardon came after a grand jury indicted him in 2015 on charges stemming from his alleged concealment of $70,000 in payments to Iowa state Sen. Kent Sorenson. He was accused of paying Sorenson to change his endorsement from Michele Bachmann to Ron Paul during the 2012 presidential election.
FEDERAL CASES TO WATCH IN 2023: Includes accused Jan. 6 insurrectionists, border smuggling ringleader.
The charges against Benton were thrown out by an Iowa judge, but he was later re-indicted and found guilty in 2016 by a federal jury in Des Moines of conspiracy, causing false records, causing false campaign expenditure reports and making false statements.
When details of Benton’s involvement in the scandal involving Sorenson came to light in August 2014, he resigned as McConnell’s campaign manager.
