Ron Paul Campaign Accused of Trying to Buy Iowa Endorsements
Last edited Wed Aug 7, 2013, 01:23 PM - Edit history (1)
The Ron Paul presidential campaign may have been involved with negotiations to offer financial compensation to an Iowa state senator in exchange for his endorsement and support in the 2012 Iowa caucuses, according to emails obtained by OpenSecrets.org.
The negotiations appear to have involved several top Ron Paul 2012 officials, including Jesse Benton, pictured with Ron Paul at right, who was the campaign's political director. Benton is married to Ron Paul’s granddaughter and is currently managing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s 2014 campaign.
In an Oct. 29, 2011 email, a representative of Iowa state Sen. Kent Sorenson, a Republican, asks the Paul campaign to provide Sorenson with $8,000 per month in salary for him, $5,000 per month in salary for a Sorenson ally, as well as $100,000 in contributions for a newly created PAC that Sorenson planned to use to support conservative candidates for Iowa state office.
In exchange, the email, which was allegedly written by Aaron Dorr, executive director of Iowa Gun Owners, says Sorenson would abandon his support for Rep. Michele Bachmann’s campaign, endorse Paul, campaign for him and provide access to an email list of Iowans who support homeschooling.
Bachmann had narrowly defeated Paul to win the Ames Straw Poll in August 2011, an early measure of support in the state.
A top aide in the 2008 Ron Paul presidential bid, Dennis Fusaro, provided several emails to OpenSecrets.org. According to the address fields in the emails, Fusaro was copied on the messages, which all date from late 2011.
Five days before the caucus, in late 2011, Sorenson abruptly switched his support from Bachmann to Paul, and the Bachmann campaign at the time charged that he had done so for money.
Sorenson is currently under investigation by the Iowa Senate Ethics Committee after a former Bachmann campaign staffer filed a complaint against him alleging he was paid by that campaign as well. Similar complaints have been filed with the Federal Election Commission. He has denied any wrongdoing in that case. Sorenson and his lawyer did not respond to requests for comment, but he told the Des Moines Register that Fusaro had fabricated the story and that he never authorized anyone to negotiate with the Paul campaign for financial support.
http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2013/08/ron-paul-campaign-accused-of-trying.html