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Jesse Reeves Benton (born October 4, 1977) is a self-described political operative known for working with conservative and libertarian organizations such as Americans for Tax Reform, the Liberty Coalition, and the American Conservative Union. Benton is strongly associated with the Paul family, serving as a high-ranking staffer for both Ron Paul and Rand Paul. He is married to Ron Paul's granddaughter. On August 5, 2015, Benton was indicted by a federal grand jury for felony charges arising from an alleged coverup Benton and colleagues conducted to conceal their expenditure of campaign money to buy the endorsement of an Iowa politician.〔http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/aug/05/ron-paul-2012-campaign-staff-indicted〕 Benton served as the campaign manager of Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who ran for re-election in 2014, until resigning on August 29, 2014 amid a scandal surrounding bribery allegations during the 2012 presidential election.〔http://www.kentucky.com/2014/08/29/3402571_mitch-mcconnells-campaign-manager.html?rh=1〕 ==Career== Benton's political career began in 2000 when he worked with the Republican National Committee. Benton has been involved with various political candidates and organizations, including the American Conservative Union, Americans for Tax Reform, the Liberty Coalition, the Performance Institute, and Louisiana Senator David Vitter. Benton opened his own political firm, CIC solutions, working mostly in Pennsylvania and Virginia. In 2007, Benton became involved with Ron Paul's 2008 presidential candidacy. Benton started out as a volunteer, being attracted by Paul's message on spending, civil liberties, and foreign policy, but eventually became Paul's communications director. After the end of Ron Paul's 2008 campaign, Benton joined the Campaign for Liberty, a political organization founded by Ron Paul to advocate for his political message. In 2010, Benton served as Rand Paul's campaign manager when Paul was elected Senator of Kentucky. Benton simultaneously served as Ron Paul's political director. Rand Paul had never run for office before, and was seen as an underdog. Benton and Rand Paul became close, with the two speaking nearly every day and Benton moving into Paul's basement.〔 Rand Paul's ultimately victorious campaign was praised for its use of the internet fundraising and recruiting, and Paul's ability to knock off a more established candidate was described by a Republican strategist as establishing a new norm for Republican primaries. After Rand Paul's election, Benton worked on Ron Paul's 2012 presidential campaign.〔 During the campaign, Benton urged Paul's delegates at the 2012 Republican National Convention to act with "decorum and respect." Although Paul was not nominated, Benton praised Paul's followers for helping to elect Paul supporters to positions of leadership within the GOP. After the 2012 presidential election, Benton agreed to serve as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's campaign manager for his 2014 re-election campaign. In hiring Benton, McConnell hoped to avoid a Republican primary from a conservative challenger, although Tea Party Republican Matt Bevin would ultimately challenge McConnell. The move was notable as McConnell had endorsed Paul's 2010 Republican primary opponent, Trey Grayson, and McConnell represented the "establishment" wing of the Kentucky Republican party while Benton's background was in "grassroots" advocacy. The move, which was followed by Rand Paul endorsing McConnell's re-election, began a political alliance between the two Republican Senators from Kentucky. Benton was seen as instrumental in securing Paul's endorsement for McConnell. Benton views his working with McConnell as part of a goal to unite different factions of Republicans, saying that "it's a really, really important mission to bring all Republicans and conservatives together."〔 Benton helped Rand Paul gain McConnell's approval of Paul's noted filibuster of future CIA Director John O. Brennan, in which Paul criticized the Obama Administration's use of combat drones. Citing the controversy surrounding Benton's alleged role in an Iowa bribery scandal during Ron Paul's 2012 presidential campaign, on August 29, 2014 Benton resigned as Mitch McConnell's campaign manager. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Jesse Benton」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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