The head of a presidential super PAC supporting Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul was indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday on charges that he hid payments made to an ex-Iowa state senator during the 2012 presidential race.
Jesse Benton -- who chaired the 2012 presidential campaign of former Republican Congressman Ron Paul of Texas -- allegedly conspired with two other Paul operatives to pay then-Iowa state Sen. Kent Sorenson more than $70,000 in exchange for his support for the elder Paul's campaign.
Benton, who is related to the Paul family by marriage, was charged alongside John Tate and Dimitri Kesari. All three men worked on worked on Ron Paul's 2012 campaign and are now involved with super PACs supporting Rand Paul's 2016 campaign.
Paul responded Wednesday.
Response from @DrRandPaul team on the indictment today of Paul political allies related to 2012 campaign pic.twitter.com/2wkT8ZKStZ
— Kelly O'Donnell (@KellyO) August 5, 2015
Sorenson pleaded guilty to hiding campaign expenditures and obstructing justice last summer and said the Paul camp's payment led him to abandon his support of then-Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn. The men indicted Wednesday are also accused of covering up the payment by submitting false campaign expenditure reports and obstructing a federal investigation by hiding their payments from the Federal Election Commission and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Benton's attorney, Roscoe C. Howard, Jr., told the Washington Post he was "disappointed to learn of today's indictment," calling it "a politically motivated prosecution designed to serve a political agenda."
The latest hurdle for Rand Paul's campaign comes after reports of disarray among campaign staff. POLITICO reported late last month that the campaign was underfunded and understaffed with many top advisors looking to bail for other campaigns.