
On Tuesday, Michael Beckel, the research director for the watchdog group Issue One Reform, flagged Federal Election Commission documents showing that the pro-Trump Great America PAC has agreed to pay a $25,000 fine.
This comes after the PAC's strategist, Jesse Benton, allegedly tried to funnel what he thought was $2 million from a Chinese national into the organization for political campaigning in 2016. Such a scheme is against the law, and in actuality, the Chinese representatives he solicited were journalists from The Telegraph.
"Benton promised to provide a purported Chinese national access to a future president in return for a $2 million contribution," said three FEC commissioners in the report. "Benton's conduct was dishonorable, unpatriotic, and clearly illegal."
3 of the 6 @FEC commissioners called this an "egregious violation" of #campaignfinance law & argued that "Benton’s… https://t.co/sLRj6J4UoW— Michael Beckel (@Michael Beckel) 1634069126.0
This news comes a month after Benton and another GOP strategist, Doug Wead, were criminally indicted for the scheme.
Benton, a former campaign operative for Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), was previously convicted for a scheme to bribe state officials in Iowa to back former Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) for president in the 2012 Iowa Caucus. Former President Donald Trump pardoned Benton for that offense prior to leaving office.