The aide's departure rocked Bachmann’s campaign in the waning days of the Iowa caucuses. | REUTERS Ex-Bachmann aide to testify in probe

Rep. Michele Bachmann’s former chief of staff is expected to admit that her presidential campaign inappropriately paid an Iowa state senator to work for her, according to a report.

The allegations center on Iowa State Sen. Kent Sorenson. Bachmann’s former chief of staff, Andy Parrish, and another aide, Peter Waldron, will tell an Iowa Senate ethics panel that Bachmann’s campaign hid payments to Sorenson, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Iowa Senators aren’t allowed to receive payments from presidential campaigns under the chamber’s ethics rules. Parrish and Waldron said Bachmann’s campaign paid Sorenson $7,500 a month by funneling the money through a Colorado-based firm owned by a Bachmann fundraiser.


The Iowa State Senator who is chairman of the ethics panel told the Star Tribune he hopes to finish the investigation by the end of the state’s legislative session in early May.

The Federal Election Commission and Office of Congressional Ethics are also investigating the allegations. Bachmann campaign lawyers have denied the accusations, as has Sorenson.

Sorenson rocked Bachmann’s campaign in the waning days of the Iowa caucuses by leaving to support Rep. Ron Paul’s (R-Texas) bid. At the time, Bachmann implied Sorenson was motivated by money.

This article tagged under: Michele Bachmann