Ron Paul’s 2012 presidential campaign accused of bribing Iowa state senator
By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette
Sen. Kent Sorenson appears above with Rep. Michelle Bachman, right, and Rep. Ron Paul, left, during their 2012 presidential campaigns. Sorenson under investigation for allegedly taking bribes from the Bachmann campaign in exchange for his support for her campaign.
Thursday, Aug. 8, 2013, 11:30 a.m. — Ron Paul’s 2012 presidential campaign has been accused of bribing an influential Iowa state senator to drop his endorsement of Rep. Michelle Bachmann and endorse Paul ahead of the Iowa caucuses.
Documents obtained by The Iowa Republican website suggest that Iowa Sen. Kent Sorenson sought and obtained $30,000 in financial compensation from Ron Paul’s campaign to shift his support from Bachmann to Paul.
The documents name Paul campaign officials who were involved in the negotiations with Sorenson. The series of emails detail negotiations between a Sorenson contact and the Paul campaign. The documents implicate Jesse Benton, Sen. Mitch McConnell’s 2014 campaign manager, as having a role in the negotiations to gain Sorenson’s support. At the time Benton was Paul’s national campaign chairman.
Sorenson is already under investigation for violating an Iowa Senate ethics rule that forbids Iowa state senators from being compensated by a presidential campaign. The allegations that Bachmann’s campaign bribed Sorenson have attracted investigations by the FBI, Federal Election Commission, and the Office of Congressional Ethics.
The sole source for the documents provided to The Iowa Republican website is Dennis Fusaro, the former national field director for Ron Paul’s 2008 presidential campaign.
The documents also include a July 2013 email exchange between Fusaro and Benton, with Benton’s denial of knowledge of the Sorenson negotiations. When asked for a response, Sorenson accused Fusaro of fabricating the story and denied accepting money prior to joining the Paul campaign in December 2011.
For a review of the e-mails, click here to visit The Iowa Republican website.
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