In response to the Justice Department’s indictment of Jesse Benton, head of pro-Rand Paul Super PAC America’s Liberty PAC, and two others, CREW Executive Director Noah Bookbinder issued the following statement:

“The indictment of Mr. Benton points to a troubling trend in Presidential politics. The Department’s charges of conspiracy, obstructing an investigation, submitting false campaign finance reports to the Federal Election Commission, and making false statements to the FBI, if proven, point to a complete disregard for the law when the nation’s highest office is on the line and once again to political advancement being driven by money rather than the public interest. Unfortunately, this may be just the tip of the iceberg. Mr. Benton and his coconspirators are well connected and have spent many years involved in politics. It would be naive to assume that this is an isolated incident. With another round of primaries about to begin, the government agencies tasked with enforcing campaign finance laws must remain vigilant, as they cannot afford to wait for political operatives to get sloppy enough to get caught.

CREW has closely monitored this investigation from the beginning and has worked to highlight the alleged wrongdoing at issue here. We applaud the Justice Department for bringing this round of charges and hope that this is the beginning of a crackdown on unmonitored, unlawful electoral activity. These charges are a good start, but if we want to see politics cleaned up in this country, they too must be just the tip of the iceberg.”