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   From: deathfortreasosn@gmail.com   
      
   GOP operatives charged with funneling $25,000 from Russian citizen to   
   Trump campaign.   
      
   The Justice Department on Monday charged two prominent Republican   
   operatives who allegedly helped a Russian citizen illegally donate $25,000   
   to the Trump campaign in 2016. Jesse Benton, 43, and Doug Wead, 75, were   
   charged in a six-count indictment and made their first appearance in DC   
   District Court. They're accused of conspiring to violate campaign finance   
   laws, making an illegal foreign contribution and helping submit false   
   records to the Federal Election Commission. Information about their   
   defense attorneys wasn't immediately available. Prosecutors said Benton   
   and Wead funneled $25,000 from the unnamed Russian donor to the Trump   
   Victory Committee, a joint fundraising venture between then-candidate   
   Donald Trump's campaign and the Republican National Committee. The Russian   
   then attended a September 2016 fundraiser in Philadelphia, where he met   
   Trump and took photos with the future President.   
      
   There is no indication in the court filings that the case is connected to   
   the special counsel investigation, which examined the many ties between   
   Trump's 2016 campaign and Russia. The indictment says Trump's campaign   
   wasn't aware that the money came from a foreign national.   
      
   According to the indictment, the Russian wired $100,000 to a company that   
   Benton owned. Benton kept $75,000 and donated the remaining $25,000 to the   
   Trump Victory Committee. The indictment doesn't name Trump or the   
   committee. However, the details in the court filings match Trump's travel   
   schedule, and Federal Election Commission records confirm Benton's   
   donation.   
      
   The two defendants have worked in politics for decades and are well-known   
   in GOP circles. Benton worked for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's   
   2014 reelection campaign, Sen. Rand Paul's first campaign in 2010 and   
   former Rep. Ron Paul's presidential campaign in 2012. He was acquitted in   
   2015 of lying to the FBI about a donation-for-endorsement scheme, but was   
   convicted in 2016 in a related case. He got probation, and Trump pardoned   
   him last December.   
      
   Wead was an aide to former President George H.W. Bush, served with Benton   
   on Ron Paul's 2012 presidential campaign and worked on Rand Paul's Senate   
   reelection campaign in 2016. The Justice Department has cracked down in   
   recent years on foreign influence in American politics by bringing cases   
   about straw donations, undisclosed lobbying and election meddling.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
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