Report: McConnell Campaign Manager Faced Subpoenas Before Resigning

FILE - In this Dec. 28, 2011 file photo Jesse Benton, arrives at a campaign event honoring veterans at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, Iowa, Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011. On Thursday, Sept, 13, 2012, Benton wa... FILE - In this Dec. 28, 2011 file photo Jesse Benton, arrives at a campaign event honoring veterans at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, Iowa, Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011. On Thursday, Sept, 13, 2012, Benton was hired by Senate Republican leader Mitch Mc Connell to oversee his re-election campaign.(AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File) MORE LESS
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Mitch McConnell’s campaign manager, Jesse Benton, was facing subpoenas for emails and financial transactions before he resigned last Friday from the helm of Senate Republican leader’s reelection effort.

The Center For Responsive Politics reported on Thursday that one of two grand juries investigating an Iowa bribery scandal in the 2012 presidential election had in late July subpoenaed documents from “at least seventeen individuals, including [Ron] Paul, [Michele] Bachmann and Jesse Benton.”

Benton is ensnared in the probe because he was a top aide to Paul’s 2012 campaign. He maintains he’s innocent and said he stepped down from McConnell’s campaign due to “inaccurate press accounts and unsubstantiated media rumors” which he said “risk unfairly undermining” the Republican’s bid.

The probe is about whether Iowa State Sen. Kent Sorenson (R) was bribed to switch his endorsement from Bachmann to Paul; the switch came after Sorenson received a $25,000 check that was traced to a store linked to another one of Paul’s aides, Dimitri Kesari.

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  1. What part of he resigned because he was innocent do you people not understand.

  2. I’m sure he just wants to spend more time with his family.

    This one could be a lot of fun. If they simply follow the money…

  3. If Kentuckyians don’t wake up and get rid of Mitch in November, they should be ashamed. To allow a corrupt sleaze like Mitch to win, and one who has been a do-nothing obstructionist is inexcusable.

  4. Hasn’t Sorenson already pled guilty to taking a bribe from Ron Paul campaign to switch allegiance to Paul from Bachmann?

  5. Is it possible that a majority of Kentuckyians care more about (somehow) sticking it to that Kenyan Muslim Usurper in the White House by voting against that Uppity Obama-loving Lady?

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