Pol admits taking payments to back Ron Paul in '12

Published August 29, 2014

WASHINGTON A former Iowa state senator who was a key official in Rep. Michele Bachmann's 2012 presidential campaign pleaded guilty Wednesday to illicitly concealing payments he received to switch his support from Bachmann to then-Texas Rep. Ron Paul.

Former GOP state Sen. Kent Sorenson received thousands of dollars in "under the table payments," according to the Justice Department, to ditch Bachmanns campaign, where he had served as Iowa chairman. He endorsed Paul instead.

The Department of Justice brought charges against him for allegedly lying to federal investigators about the money.

Sorensons support was seen as a key endorsement in the 2012 Iowa contest, which is the first-in-the-nation test for candidates seeking their party nomination.

Sorenson was named Bachmann's state campaign chairman in June 2011. But by the fall, Bachmann's momentum in the polls had stalled. Six days before the Iowa Republican caucuses, Sorenson announced his support for Paul.

In the plea agreement, Sorenson admitted concealing payments of $73,000 after secretly negotiating to switch his support. The payments came in monthly installments of roughly $8,000, according to DOJ.

The former lawmaker pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and causing a campaign to falsely report expenditures. Sorenson could face up to 20 years in prison for obstruction of justice, and as many as five years on the second charge.

After Sorenson's switch in December 2011, Bachmann immediately claimed Sorsenson told her he was offered "a lot of money" by Paul's people.

Sorenson, though, denied the claim in a December 2011 interview with Fox News. He said he was "never offered a nickel."

Read this article:
Pol admits taking payments to back Ron Paul in '12