The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit ruled against former Republican campaign consultant Jesse R. Benton on Friday, upholding Benton’s conviction for allegedly funneling $100,000 in campaign donations from a Russian businessman to his consulting firm. Of the $100,000, Benton was convicted of keeping $75,000 of the donation for himself and giving the other $25,000 to the 2016 campaign of former President Donald Trump under Benton’s name.
Benton appealed his 2022 conviction for “conspiring to solicit and cause an illegal campaign contribution by a foreign national, effecting a conduit contribution, and causing false records to be filed with the FEC.” Benton argued that his 2020 pardon, granted by Trump, prevented prosecutors from bringing up his previous campaign finance conviction for bribing an Iowa politician to switch his endorsement in 2011 to former US Representative Ron Paul (L-TX).
Benton also pointed to Federal Rules of Evidence 404(b) and 609, arguing that, under these rules, prior criminal acts can’t be introduced for impeachment purposes if there was a “finding of innocence,” which he claimed the pardon was. However, the prosecution argued that the pardon did not specify Benton’s innocence, and the district court agreed.
The appellate court sided with the district court and the prosecution, stating:
Even if we applied Rule 609 to interpret Rule 404 (b) [of the Federal Rules of Evidence]- so that a pardon based on innocence could not be admitted- we would affirm the district court’s conclusion that Benton’s pardon did not evince his rehabilitation or innocence.
Benton made several other claims, which were either rejected by the appellate court or the appellate court refused to review. Included among them were the claims that the false records provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act cannot be used to prosecute false records to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Benton’s prior conviction was improperly used during sentencing, and that the jury instructions were improper.
Benton was originally convicted of funneling $100,000 in illegal foreign campaign contributions through his consulting firm, giving $25,000 of which to the 2016 Trump campaign. The contributions came from Roman Vasilenko, a prominent Russian businessman. Benton allegedly concealed the source of the funds from both the Trump campaign and Trump himself. To hide the source of the funds, Benton allegedly created a fake invoice, billing the money as “consulting services.” He then donated $25,000 to the Trump campaign under his own name. This caused the Trump campaign to unknowingly file false SEC filings citing Benton as the donor, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ). Federal law prohibits the acceptance of election contributions from foreign entities or nationals.
Benton was convicted in 2022 and was sentenced to 18 months in prison in 2023. Benton then filed a motion for judgment of acquittal and a motion for a new trial, which were both rejected by the DC Circuit Court in January 2023. Benton then appealed the DC Circuit ruling, with oral arguments being held before the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit on February 12, 2024.
Foreign election interference has become a widespread global concern as allegations have proliferated all over the world in a year in which almost half of the world’s population has participated or will participate in an election. Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo alleged last week that Russia has attempted to interfere in the upcoming EU parliamentary elections. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) alleged in early April that the governments of India and Pakistan both attempted to interfere in the 2021 Canadian federal election. Russian President Vladimir Putin alleged in March that the US attempted to interfere in Russia’s March presidential elections. In 2021, US President Joe Biden placed new sanctions on Russia for allegedly interfering in the 2020 US presidential election.
