Two Virginia Republicans indicted in Ron Paul campaign scandal

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Last edited Mon Aug 10, 2015, 11:57 AM - Edit history (2)

Two Virginia Republicans indicted in Ron Paul campaign scandal

Virginia Politics
By Rachel Weiner August 5 

Two longtime Virginia Republican activists were indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury in an alleged endorsement-for-pay scheme dating to the 2012 presidential campaign.

Dimitri Kesari of Leesburg, Va. and John Tate of Warrenton, Va. were accused along with Jesse Benton of paying an Iowa state senator to endorse then-Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas).

Kesari currently serves on the Hamilton Town Council. Tate, who served as Paul’s campaign manager in 2012, was the Republican nominee in a 1996 congressional race in Virginia Beach. He’s stayed active in GOP politics, endorsing Prince William Board Chairman Corey Stewart’s bid for lieutenant governor in 2013. Dennis Fusaro, the whistleblower who exposed the alleged scheme, is also a longtime Virginia conservative political activist.

{Rand Paul super PAC head indicted}
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Before getting involved in the Paul operation he been involved in Loudoun politics for decades, part of a conservative group that challenged Supervisor Scott K. York when he became an independent. Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio has tried to raise money for his defense, saying he personally contributed $5,000.

Delgaudio Sought Legal Defense Funds For Hamilton Councilman Last Month

Posted: Monday, August 10, 2015 5:45 am
by Jonathan Hunley

Loudoun County Supervisor Eugene A. Delgaudio made a push for a legal defense fund for Dimitri N. Kesari about a month before the Hamilton town councilman was federally indicted. ... Delgaudio (R-Sterling) said Friday that he emailed two people July 6 to seek money so that the Defenders of Liberty Legal Defense Foundation could help pay legal bills for Kesari.

Rumors had swirled about Kesari being under investigation, but it wasn’t until Wednesday that federal authorities announced that he and two other political operatives for the 2012 Ron Paul presidential campaign had been indicted.

Kesari, John M. Tate, of Warrenton, and Jesse R. Benton, of Louisville, KY, face charges related to payments authorities say were made to secure an Iowa state senator’s support for Paul.

Delgaudio noted in his email, which was posted on targetliberty.com July 19, that allegations about the Paul campaign were made in a story in Mother Jones magazine.

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1. Indicted Hamilton councilman, Kesari, has lengthy list of traffic violations, ties to Delgaudio

Indicted Hamilton councilman, Kesari, has lengthy list of traffic violations, ties to Delgaudio

Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2015 by Trevor Baratko
[e-mail]
@TrevorBaratko.

Who is Dimitrios Kesari? ... We've learned a lot looking into this question since Aug. 5, when Kesari, an elected member of Hamilton Town Council, was indicted and charged with violating federal campaign finance and election laws in Iowa.

Kesari, 49, was charged along with 37-year-old Jesse Benton of Kentucky and John M. Tate, 53, of Warrenton, with conspiracy, causing false records to obstruct a contemplated investigation, causing the submission of false campaign expense reports to the Federal Election Commission and engaging in a scheme to make false statements to the FEC.
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Since news of the indictment, more alarming details about the Hamilton town councilman have surfaced, including:

-Kesari is reportedly also being investigated in relation to a July 2014 burglary in Rhode Island. That burglary, according to the blog Target Liberty, was a “well-orchestrated” crime and involved Kesari's former roommate on the Paul campaign, Jared Gamble. Gamble died in 2013 at the age of 26. ... The Target Liberty blog report police in Rhode Island place Kesari in the state at the time of the break-in. ... “The [July 2014] break-in appears to have been a very sophisticated operation that caused the parents of Gamble to be lured away, out of town, from their home. Gamble's laptop computer may have been taken during the break-in," the blog reports.
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-Kesari is closely linked with Loudoun County Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio (R-Sterling), according to multiple local Republicans. ... Delgaudio nominated Kesari to be a member of the Loudoun Water Board of Directors, and this July the supervisor launched a legal defense fund to help Kesari. The supervisor said he was pledging $5,000 himself.

Kesari A Suspect In Rhode Island Burglary

Posted: Monday, August 10, 2015 6:00 am | Updated: 10:37 am, Tue Aug 11, 2015.
Jonathan Hunley Leesburg Today

Hamilton Town Councilman Dimitri N. Kesari, already under indictment on federal election charges, is also being investigated in connection with a burglary in Rhode Island.

Federal authorities announced Wednesday that Kesari and two other political operatives face charges linked to their work on the 2012 Ron Paul presidential campaign.
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Reached Friday, Kesari, also a former Loudoun County planning commissioner and Loudoun Water board member, said he couldn’t comment per a gag order instituted by the court.

But Glocester, RI, Police Chief Joseph DelPrete said that Kesari also is a suspect in the ongoing investigation of a mid-July 2014 burglary there. ... The home of John and Karen Gamble was broken into and a laptop computer stolen while the couple was vacationing in Kennebunkport, ME, DelPrete said Friday.

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2. Loudoun Resident Dimitri Kesari Indicted in Alleged 2012 Campaign Finance Scheme

Loudoun Resident Dimitri Kesari Indicted in Alleged 2012 Campaign Finance Scheme

By Dusty Smith on August 5, 2015

A Hamilton Town Councilman, who has served on the Loudoun Planning Commission and the Loudoun Water Board of Directors, has been indicted along with two other men in an apparent campaign finance scheme used to pay off a political ally in the 2012 presidential campaign.
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Read the full indictment here.

Kesari’s name might ring a bell to Loudoun residents, particularly those involved in local politics. A 2006 Leesburg Today story names Kesari and Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio as opposing appointments of members of the Loudoun County Republican Committee to committees within the LCRC because they previously supported Scott York, an Independent at the time, for chairman.

Delgaudio and Kesari have been political pals for years, with Kesari being nominated to county boards and commissions. He was appointed to and served on the Loudoun Water Board of Directors from 2007 until 2010. Kesari also served on the Loudoun Planning Commission from 1992-1996. He’s currently a member of the Hamilton Town Council.

Interestingly, during the time Kesari served on the Loudoun Water board, he received a series of speeding tickets that listed his address as Washington, DC, according to court records. ... In 2011, Kesari was listed as lobbyist for National Right to Work Committee. ... In 2012, he became Ron Paul’s 2012 deputy national campaign manager.