Indictments are the culmination of a long investigation into Paul campaign’s alleged hidden payments to an Iowa state senator to endorse him for president

Top staff members from Ron Paul’s 2012 presidential campaign have been indicted in the culmination of a long investigation into Paul campaign’s alleged payments to an Iowa state senator to endorse the former Texas congressman for president and the hiding of those payments.

Jesse Benton, who ran Paul’s 2012 campaign and is married to the former congressman’s granddaughter, was indicted on Wednesday on five felony charges in federal court in Des Moines, Iowa along with John Tate and Dimitri Kesari, both of whom were also were top staffers on the 2012 campaign.

Ron Paul’s son, Kentucky senator Rand Paul, is one of the candidates for the Republican presidential nomination for 2016.

Benton, Tate and Kesari have long been fixtures in the political orbits of both Ron and Rand Paul. Benton was Rand Paul’s campaign manager in his 2010 Senate campaign and was serving the same role for Mitch McConnell on his 2014 re-election campaign until he resigned due to the ongoing investigation of his role in the Sorenson scandal.

None of the three men are affiliated with Paul’s 2016 presidential campaign, but Benton is running Concerned American Votes, a superPAC endorsed by Paul which is backing his campaign. Tate runs America’s Liberty PAC, another official pro-Paul superPAC.

A spokesperson for Rand Paul’s campaign said the indictments “have nothing to do with our campaign.”

“Senator Rand Paul is disappointed that the Obama justice department chose to release this just prior to the highly anticipated first Republican presidential debate; it certainly appears suspiciously timed and possibly, politically motivated.”



The indictment alleges that Benton, Tate and Kesari conspired with then-Iowa state senator Kent Sorenson to conceal payments to him in exchange for his endorsement. Sorenson, who resigned from the Iowa state senate in 2013, agreed to a plea deal in 2014. It goes on to accuse all three men of repeatedly making false statements about the scheme to the FBI.

Sorenson had originally endorsed Minnesota Republican Michele Bachmann in the 2012 presidential primary and was illicitly being paid a salary by her campaign. While it doesn’t violate federal law for a presidential campaign to hire a state legislator to deliver his political influence, hiding the payments would violate the law.

A campaign could not pay Sorenson openly because Iowa state senate ethics rule prevent legislators from accepting a salary from a presidential campaign.

Benton allegedly offered to match Sorenson’s salary if he jumped ship in the days before the Iowa caucuses. At the time, Bachmann’s campaign was foundering. Although the Minnesota Republican had a brief surge in support after winning the Ames Straw Poll in the summer, her campaign never took advantage of that win and collapsed in infighting.

In contrast, Paul was surging and had the potential to pull off an upset win in the Iowa caucuses. He just needed to appeal to diehard conservatives, a constituency in which Sorenson was well liked.

The agreement was allegedly sealed when Kesari gave Sorenson’s wife a $25,000 check in a suburban Des Moines steakhouse just a week before the Iowa caucuses. The check was made out to Sorenson by a jewelry company owned by Kesari’s wife, according to the indictment.

A few days later, Sorenson dramatically announced that he was backing Paul at a Des Moines rally just hours after appearing with Bachmann at one of her campaign events.

According to the indictment, Kesari tried to retrieve the check from Sorenson two years later during a furtive trip to Des Moines where both men had to initially reassure each other that they were not wearing wires. The former state senator refused to turn it over.

Ron Paul said in a statement: “I am extremely disappointed in the government’s decision. I think the timing of this indictment is highly suspicious given the fact that the first primary debate is tomorrow. My thoughts and prayers are with the families of those involved. I will not be commenting further on this matter at this time.”



Benton’s lawyer, Roscoe C Howard Jr, said he was “deeply disappointed” to learn of the indictment.

“Jesse Benton, a prominent conservative Republican, has cooperated with the government during its multi-year investigation,” he said. “That this indictment is now suddenly announced on the eve of the first Republican presidential debate strongly supports our belief that this is a politically motivated prosecution designed to serve a political agenda, not to achieve justice. Mr Benton is eager to get before an impartial judge and jury who will quickly recognize this for what he believes it is: character assassination for political gain.”

America’s Liberty Pac did not respond to requests for comment.

Peter Waldron, the former Bachmann staffer who filed a complaint with the FEC in 2013 which initiated the investigation told the Guardian that with the indictments “justice prevailed”.

Craig Robinson, a longtime Iowa Republican activist whose website the Iowa Republican played a crucial role in revealing the scandal, said the indictments should have a big impact on the 2016 GOP primary.

“If I was Rand Paul, I’d be sweating bullets,” Robinson told the Guardian. He added that the news raised big questions about the role of money of politics and “it would be a crime if Fox News doesn’t ask [Rand Paul] a question about” the indictments in Thursday’s presidential debate.

But Jeff Kaufmann, the chair of the Republican Party of Iowa, said he did not think the indictments raised any concerns about the integrity of the Iowa caucuses.

“There’s always going to be bad players in every state. All 50 of them.”

He said he thought that “the Iowa caucus process and fact that we’re first in the nation means we’re very transparent and you’re going to see the players going to be punished.”

The former state legislator also noted that the scandal didn’t involve “any of the major political leaders in the state.”

Sorenson was a freshman state senator and did not have the clout he thought he did” said Kaufmann. “I served with him and called him a legend in his own mind.”

• This article was amended on 6 August 2015. An earlier version wrongly referred to Kesari as “Fusari” in one instance and this has been corrected.