Longtime GOP political strategist Jesse Benton has been convicted on campaign finance charges for his role in helping a Russian citizen illegally funnel a political donation to former President Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and have his photo taken with Trump.
Benton, a former top aide to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), and former Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), acted as a “straw donor” when he took $100,000 of a Russian foreign national’s money, used $25,000 to buy a ticket to a fundraising event for Trump, and pocketed the remaining $75,000, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a statement….