A review of campaign finance records shows Benton made more than $500,000 working for McConnell from the beginning of 2013 through the end of last month. The former top Ron Paul and Rand Paul strategist made most of his money from McConnell's campaign. The rest came from work he did for McConnell's leadership PAC.

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McConnell's campaign paid Benton's consulting firm more than $402,000 during the last 21 months for strategy consulting and research, records show. That's substantially more than a typical Senate campaign manager takes home in salary in a comparable period.

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As liberal blogger Joe Sonka, who dug into the numbers earlier this week, pointed out, McConnell's campaign paid Benton's firm days after he resigned this summer. Benton, as Sonka noted, has also been paid by the Kentucky Republican Party.

To put Benton's compensation into further perspective:

-- It's more than double McConnell's annual $193,400 Senate salary.

-- It's more than double what President Obama campaign manager Jim Messina made in 2012.

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-- It's more than Obama's annual $400,000 salary.

McConnell's leadership PAC, the Bluegrass Committee, paid JRB Consulting LLC about $110,000 last year and this year, campaign finance reports show. The address for JRB matches the address where Benton is registered to vote in Texas, records show.

McConnell started the 2014 election cycle facing the prospect of a tough primary. The tea party was eager to unseat him. So he tapped Benton's deep ties to the tea party movement to help navigate the rough waters

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It worked out. Rand Paul -- eyeing a 2016 White House bid and on the lookout for new allies -- endorsed McConnell. Tea party challenger Matt Bevin never picked up steam. McConnell easily won his primary.

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Benton resigned from McConnell's campaign in late August amid a federal probe into an endorsement-pay-scheme related to the 2012 presidential campaigns of Paul and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.).

McConnell's campaign did not respond to requests for a comment about the disbursements to Benton's firm. Benton did not respond to an e-mail asking about his compensation, either.