Charges Dismissed Against John Tate and Jesse Benton (Mostly)

written by Paul A. Prados October 13, 2015

In 2012 Kent Sorenson of Iowa was allegedly bribed by agents of the Ron Paul campaign to endorse Ron Paul. The agents of the Ron Paul campaign identified have always been Dimitri Kesari and Jesse Benton.

Years later, an indictment came down alleging a criminal conspiracy between Kesari, Benton and John Tate. All three have strong ties to Virginia, and obviously the liberty movement.

On Friday October 9, 2015 Judge John A. Jarvey of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa dismissed all counts against John Tate and four of five counts against Jesse Benton on the grounds that the prosecution had blatantly violated agreements between Tate and the government and Benton and the government.

Most of the underlying details are filed under seal and unavailable to the general public. Nonetheless, the ruling of Judge Jarvey provides some insight to what really happened.

Proffers

Seeking to cooperate with the federal investigation both Tate and Benton testified in the form of proffers for federal investigators. Proffers are utilized when a party is not being granted immunity but they believe they have likely done nothing wrong. Proffers are governed by proffer agreements that have generally similar terms from case to case. These particular agreements barred usage of the proffered testimony except in instances where they were being prosecuted for making false statements (in the proffer), perjury(in the proffer), or obstruction of justice(in the proffer).

Misuse:

It turns out the prosecutors used proffered statements before the Grand Jury in Iowa in order to charge Tate and Benton with:

engaging in a conspiracy to submit false campaign finance reports
submitting false campaign finance reports
submitting false campaign finance reports
submitting false campaign finance reports

Does anyone see a count alleging false statements, perjury or obstruction of justice IN THE PROFFER?

Neither did Judge Jarvey.

So the prosecutors broke their deals, deals that would not have been made, if not for the promise of limited use.

So what is the penalty for the government’s improper use of proffered testimony to obtain indictments?

Dismissal of Counts 1-4 for both Tate and Benton. Tate is now in the clear. Benton is still being prosecuted for a single count 5. Kesari is being prosecuted for counts 1-4 and 6.

Although this prosecution has been brewing for years, prosecutors took this a step too far. Tate should never have been charged, Benton was always likely in the clear, and it is unclear if Kesari will go down.

Why:

So who is the driving force behind this political prosecution where agreements are blatantly broken?

Richard Pilger, a man tied heavily to Lois Lerner’s IRS targeting of conservative groups.

I may reveal underlying details as I obtain them, if legally allowed to do so.

Congratulations to Tate and Benton, and good luck avoiding the wrath of our politically motivated Justice Department going forward.

The ruling:

Tate Benton Order

Paul A. Prados

Having fallen prey to the allure of DC politics in college, Paul escaped only to make the similar judgment error of going to law school. Trained at the side of a sitting state Senator, Paul is now the owner of a law firm in Reston, Virginia. In previous years Paul built a base of support on Twitter @ppradoslaw and founded and wrote for a blog on Virginia politics and legal procedure northernvirginialawyer.blogspot.com. As a pro-life libertarian, Paul finds himself at home within the broader conservative movement, and believes in a big tent Republican Party. In May 2016 Paul was elected as Chairman of the 11th Congressional District Republican Committee. Paul resides in western Fairfax County with his wife and children.

Lawrence Wood

Something tells me that this whole political prosecution at the DoJ goes a lot deeper then Richard Pilger, from whom the House Oversight Committee learned about a database Lois Lerner, then head of the tax-exempt organizations division of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), shared with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). But not before Pilger, at the recommendation of a DOJ lawyer, refused to answer questions 34 times, causing House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) to subpoenaed the Department of Justice. Issa stated at the time that the “The Department’s refusal to allow Mr. Pilger to testify about matters highly relevant to the Committee’s investigation unnecessarily delays and frustrates the Committee’s Constitutional oversight obligations.” There is a very unsavory history here with both Mr. Pilger and the DoJ and I find it VERY curious that a lingering investigation seemed to gather new life and focus just as son, Sen. Rand Paul was rising in the Presidential primary polls. An event that definitely impacted his polling numbers and was widely touted in the main stream media as “guilt by association” with his father Ron Paul. Very curious indeed, as Ron Paul’s poll leadership position crumbled in short order, the single contributing factor, most likely not, but a contributing factor most certainly yes.
- Paul Prados
  
  You are definitely right about the timing. This indictment has been in the works for years. They had everything they needed in September 2014 after the Sorenson plea agreement. This was always held just in case Rand a viable contender.
Nick Bukowski

Benton, Tate and Kesari did break the law. It seems like they’re getting out on a technicality, as they should if the evidence was all based on their protected testimony. It’s wrong to have a politically driven justice department prosecuting people to exact political gains, but all the more reason for us in the liberty movement to obey the law so stuff like this can’t come up. This annoys me because Ron and Rand have integrity and wouldn’t do something like this, however they chose to hire people who would. I’m still backing Paul and I hope this matter is laid to rest since it has nothing to do with him, but I just wish he would surround himself with people that weren’t complete morons like these three.
- Paul Prados
  
  I have been following this situation for years, and I am privy to a little bit of inside knowledge. What appears to you as getting off on a technicality is an important failsafe against prosecutorial overreach. When used before the Grand Jury, the accused can not force the use of important qualifying aspects of the proffer or of clarifying the characterization of proffered testimony. If you read the lines utilized before the Grand Jury you can see how egregious the prosecutions actions were. The job of the defense is to get their accused out of the case as easily as possible. They were very successful here. That does not mean they wouldn’t have been successful at trial.
  
  Tate never seemed to have been involved. Benton’s situation is harder to know. Kesari appears to have been the bagman. My point is these aren;t complete morons and criminals but the politically driven prosecutors would have us believe it.
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Bob FitzSimmonds

Meanwhile, no charges will be brought against Lois Lerner, Hillary Clinton or any of the other high level Obama appointees who blatantly misused their offices for partisan and personal gain. I am glad to hear that John can go back to living his life and fighting for the cause.

Charges Dismissed Against John Tate and Jesse Benton (Mostly)

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