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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Wharf Rat who wrote (1347332)

3/8/2022 12:49:06 PM

From: Wharf Rat

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Ex-Rand Paul aide pardoned by Trump is charged with funneling Russian money into 2016 election
Graig Graziosi - Yesterday 5:13 PM

A former campaign staffer and the grandson-in-law of US Senator Rand Paul who received a presidential pardon from former President Donald Trump has been charged with directing Russian money into the 2016 presidential election, according to the US Department of Justice.

The announcement came on Monday via an unseal indictment from 9 September.

Business Insider reports that Jesse Benton, Mr Paul's former aide, "conspired to illegally funnel thousands of dollars of foreign money from a Russian foreign national" into the 2016 campaign.

He also managed Senator Mitch McConnell's 2014 campaign.

Mr Benton received a $100,000 wire transfer from an unnamed Russian national in October of 2016, according to the indictment. He was allegedly promised that he would get to "meet a celebrity" at a Philadelphia fundraiser a month earlier.

Though prosecutors did not name the candidate involved in the memo, Insider confirmed that Mr Trump was hosting a fundraiser in Philadelphia the night of the fundraiser mentioned by the Russian national.

That individual was present at the fundraiser, according to prosecutors. His travel to the US was allegedly made possible by a co-conspirator in the case, conservative author Roy Douglas Wead. According to prosecutors, all three had taken officials with "Political Candidate 1," who is believed to be Mr Trump.

Both men are accused of passing off the donations as payments for "consulting work." Mr Benton reportedly kept $75,000 of the donation, while the rest was given to the candidate.

Mr Benton was previously convicted of campaign finance fraud relating to Mr Paul's 2012 presidential campaign. He was sentenced just says before the Philadelphia fundraiser and was sentenced to two years of probation and a $10,000 fine.

After his conviction, Mr Trump pardoned Mr Benton.

Prior to the Iowa caucus in 2011, three of Mr Paul's top staffers - including Mr Benton - arranged for a $73,000 payout to the then-Iowa state Senator Kent Sorenson, according to The Daily Beast.

Mr Sorenson then immediately quit as the state chair for former Minnesota Congresswoman Michelle Bachman's presidential campaign and switched to work on Mr Paul's campaign.

Ultimately Mr Benton, along with senior aides John Tate and Demetri Kesari, were all convicted on campaign finance charges. Mr Kesari was the only one to serve prison time, and the only one not to receive a presidential pardon from Mr Trump.

His current charges are much more serious, and could land him and Mr Wead in prison for between five and 20 years.

Ex-Rand Paul aide pardoned by Trump is charged with funneling Russian money into 2016 election (msn.com)

To: Wharf Rat who wrote (1347332)	3/9/2022 5:18:17 AM
From: IC720	3 Recommendations Recommended By Broken_Clock D.Austin Winfastorlose Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 1578428

Article defends History, not Putin....defends research, not corruption (lies) in media, govt, big biz, education. Being (rat) in the dark so long animals tend (research) to go blind. So tell me, have you factored in, when a lie is repeated it's 2x more believable to blind lefties? ) "I understand you are all caught up in the heat of the moment. But just stop. Think clearly and stop making presumptions. Putin’s speech at Davos was excellent but nobody will listen. He was correct. We MUST stop judging countries by problems of previous governments. Otherwise, we should still look at Britain as an enemy. He actually hit the nail on the head. NATO would not exist unless they retain Russia as an enemy. Putin even proposed to join NATO with the Clintons and they said no way. He has said the US was developing biological weapons in Ukraine on its borders and Nuland has indeed confirmed that. China has made the same allegation that the US has been developing biological weapons on its border. The West does not always tell the truth either. You need to keep an open mind, stop being psychologically manipulated, and look at the issues face value without a predetermined outcome. If we do not do this, the hotheads will bring rain down upon us all with nuclear weapons for someone will push the button if they are about to lose. We need a peace maker – not a warmonger."