Former Iowa state senator says Ron Paul’s presidential campaign paid for his support

By Matea Gold and matea.gold@washpost.com August 27 at 8:01 PM

A former Iowa state senator pleaded guilty Wednesday to concealing campaign expenditures and obstructing justice as part of an endorsement-for-pay scheme that roiled the Iowa Republican caucuses in 2012.

Kent Sorenson (R), of Milo, Iowa, admitted in federal district court that former Texas Rep. Ron Paul’s presidential campaign secretly paid him $73,000 after he dramatically dropped his backing of Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) in late 2011 and endorsed Paul’s White House bid, saying at the time that Bachmann was no longer a viable candidate.

A furious Bachmann charged then that Sorenson was being paid to flip his support to Paul — an accusation that Sorenson, Paul and his campaign officials denied.

But in court papers filed Wednesday, Sorenson acknowledged that he had been paid by both presidential campaigns.

An attorney for Sorenson, F. Montgomery Brown, said in a statement that his guilty plea was part of his process “of taking complete responsibility for the series of compounding errors and omissions he engaged in.”

David A. Warrington, who served as general counsel to Paul’s 2012 presidential campaign, did not return requests for comment.

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