Wednesday, October 14, 2015

HOT Ron Paul Explodes on Stand

During the second day of the trial of Ron Paul Inc. operatives, Jesse Benton and Dimitri Kesari, Ron Paul was called to the stand.

He was clearly a reluctant prosecution witness. No, make that a very reluctant and furious witness.

WaPo's David Weigel reports that "Prosecutors had to show him his own grand jury testimony, twice, to get Paul to confirm that Kesari -- whose e-mails revealed a six-month deal to pay Sorenson through a pass-through company -- had effectively been an assistant to Benton.

"I'm not positive of the title," said Paul. "There were a lot of people working for the campaign... everyone reported to [campaign manager] John Tate and Jesse."

Dr. Paul hit back at the prosecutors during cross-examination. Weigel again:
Former Texas congressman Ron Paul, who took the stand Wednesday in the trial of two aides to his 2012 presidential campaign, said in court he and his family had been "victimized" by the years-long probe.
As his former campaign chairman Jesse Benton and former deputy campaign manager Dimitri Kesari looked on, Paul lambasted the government and media for an investigation that has stretched over three years, and said he was offended to see his family dragged into a seemingly endless scandal.
"I feel victimized a whole lot," said an emotional Paul, under cross-examination by Kesari's attorney. "The real victimization here is happening to me and my family. It's been a heavy burden. I didn't even know it was legal to make someone testify against a family member!"...
Paul saved his ire for the prosecution itself. He recounted angrily how he'd "read in the paper" that he was about to testify against his family. He fully supported Benton, he said, and hated to see his daughter put on a witness stand.
"As far as I'm concerned, nothing has changed," said Paul. "I feel like my daughter has been victimized, when she's getting treatment for cancer and she has to come up here."
Paul also reiterated his initial reaction to the indictment, angrily recounting that it was discussed as a possibility for months but only was released the day before the first 2016 Republican presidential debate, "where my son Rand had been invited," forcing him to answer awkward questions.
"I consider that more than a coincidence," Paul said. "I consider it an injustice."
Grant Rodgers at the Des Moines Register reports:
Paul appeared unhappy to be testifying against the two, particularly because Benton is married to his granddaughter. During cross-examination from Benton's attorney, Paul said he still stands by grandson-in-law, who chaired his 2012 campaign.
"As far as I'm concerned, nothing has changed," he said about his feelings toward Benton...
Paul left the courthouse without speaking to reporters. But he told the jurors that he had no knowledge of his campaign making payments to Sorenson. He said he'd still support Benton, and that he doesn't currently feel "victimized" by his former staffers.
"Maybe that attitude will change, but right now I don't feel victimized," he said. "...I'm not testifying for the defense, I'm testifying to the prosecution. And that's been a heavy burden for my family."
-RW

6 comments:

  1. Poor Ron, way too loyal to a frigg'n in-law! He was never going to win with Benton. I feel like the whole campaign was a giant dishonest way to fund Ron's family members. His loyaties clearly are prioritized family first, liberty second, believers/supports. Good for him. But second time around there were loud voices opposing the direction Benton was taking the campaign.

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  2. My thoughts and prayers for Dr. Paul. A man's man being brought to court by corrupt statist fools.
    Of course this is political, besides, who is a victim here? What crime has actually been committed? Even if they did pay some joker for his support, how is that different than what all politicians do everyday? Paying for votes?
    As if anyone thinks the American political process has any moral or ethical standard that needs to be protected? How about the morals of being able to do with your money as you please?
    God bless and protect the Paul family.

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    1. Exactly. I think on a personal moral level, I don't think people like Kesari or Benton should ever have been part of Paul's campaign. But I also see no violence being committed by them. And you are right. Vote buying and bribing people with free stuff is no different.

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  3. If they have e-mails authorizing bribes to politicians, isn't this case pretty cut and dry?

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  4. If you're Ron Paul you're probably going to (better or worse) trust your family most of all. D.C. is full of sharks, not all of them advertise that on their business card. At least with family you hope that it isn't just what is legal or not which figures into their calculations, but a higher standard of not bringing shame on the family. At least you hope.

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  5. The biggest mistake is expecting to change the system. This is what gets people caught. This is why, imo, Dr. Paul didn't get caught -- he had no expectation that the system would be changed. If the newer generation weren't similarly patient then maybe the were snared, but I don't know. I hope not. The system isn't designed to be navigable by honest people.

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