Feds charge 2 GOP operatives with funneling Russian's money to Trump campaign


Federal prosecutors have charged two longtime Republican operatives with helping a Russian national illegally contribute $25,000 to former President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign, keeping another $75,000 for themselves, according to an indictment unsealed Monday in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. The two men, Jesse Benton, 43, and Doug Wead, 75, pleaded not guilty to six felony counts in a remote hearing Monday.
"The grand jury indictment alleges that Benton and Wead worked together to accept $100,000 from an unidentified Russian national in order to get the foreigner a meeting with then-candidate Trump at a fundraiser in Philadelphia on Sept. 22, 2016," Politico reports. "There is no indication in the indictment that Trump or his campaign aides were aware that the money originated with the Russian donor." The indictment says the Russian was photographed with Trump at the event, a Sept. 22, 2016, fundraiser in Philadelphia.
Benton received a presidential pardon from Trump last December for a separate campaign finance conviction related to paying an Iowa lawmaker to switch endorsements from Michele Bachmann to Ron Paul in the 2012 GOP primary campaign. Benton was Paul's campaign manager and is an in-law of Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), and he also ran Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) 2014 re-election campaign before stepping down amid the Ron Paul Iowa scandal. The indictment alleges he was working to funnel the Russian's money to Trump's campaign in the days before and after he was sentenced in the Iowa case.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Wead is a conservative pundit and longtime GOP activist.
Legal observers see the indictments as part of a final push to prosecute any remaining cases from the 2016 election before the statute of limitations run out. "The case against Benton and Wead has been assigned to Judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump appointee," Politico notes.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Court allows Trump’s Texas troops to head to Chicago
Speed Read Trump is ‘using our service members as pawns in his illegal effort to militarize our nation’s cities,’ said Gov. J.B. Pritzker
-
Political violence: The rise in leftist terrorism
Feature A new study finds that, for the first time in decades, attacks by far-left extremists have surpassed far-right violence in the U.S.
-
The GOP: Merging flag and cross
Feature Donald Trump has launched a task force to pursue “anti-Christian policies”
-
Court allows Trump’s Texas troops to head to Chicago
Speed Read Trump is ‘using our service members as pawns in his illegal effort to militarize our nation’s cities,’ said Gov. J.B. Pritzker
-
The GOP: Merging flag and cross
Feature Donald Trump has launched a task force to pursue “anti-Christian policies”
-
Five key questions about the Gaza peace deal
The Explainer Many ‘unresolved hurdles’ remain before Donald Trump’s 20-point plan can get the go-ahead
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in Oregon
Speed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Russia: already at war with Europe?
Talking Point As Kremlin begins ‘cranking up attacks’ on Ukraine’s European allies, questions about future action remain unanswered
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denial
Speed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels
speed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feud
Speed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her