One Ron Paul staffer convicted, another acquitted

During the weeklong trial, prosecutors presented emails and other documents they say showed the men knowingly hid payments to Sorenson between 2011 and 2012, at the height of Paul’s campaign for the presidency. Kent Sorenson $73,000 for switching his support to Paul from former Rep. Michele Bachmann just days ahead of the 2012 Iowa Republican caucuses.

A jury has found an aide to Ron Paul’s 2012 presidential campaign guilty of one of five charges he faced related to secret payments to an Iowa lawmaker.

Kesari, Ron Paul’s deputy campaign manager, was acquitted of an obstruction of justice charge, and jurors said they could not reach a verdict on counts alleging conspiracy, causing false campaign expenditure reports and a scheme to falsify statements.

Co-defendant Jesse Benton was acquitted of the one charge he faced – making false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Defense lawyers for Benton said the former campaign chair, who is married to Paul’s granddaughter, was a harried manager who wasn’t intimately involved in every aspect of the campaign.

Earlier this month, an Iowa judge threw out four of the five counts against Jesse Benton, who most recently a ran super-PAC backing Sen. He had contended that Sorenson was essentially an employee of the Paul campaign, attending events with the Texas congressman in the days after his endorsement and recording a robocall for the campaign.

According to evidence offered in the trial, Kesari had approached Sorenson, who shared a few political strategists, about the possibility of joining Paul’s campaign.

Prosecutors argued that concealing payments to an elected official undermines the electoral system and it’s important to uphold laws that ensure integrity and transparency of the federal election process. He insisted Kesari did not know he was doing anything wrong.

Ron Paul was called as a witness at the trial and, according to Bloomberg, testified that he had no knowledge of the scheme. Charges against a third aide, John Tate, were dismissed. Defense also highlighted errors in the FBI’s notes and complained that Benton was not allowed to reviewed his statements to LoStracco. The government may also bring additional charges against Benton.