Town Councilman Indicted for Bribery in White House Race: Media Report

A member of the Hamilton Town Council has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges that he attempted to bribe an Iowa state senator during the 2012 presidential race, according to a media report.

Dimitri Kesari, a Leesburg resident and a national political operative, was accused with two other conservative activists of paying an Iowa state senator to endorse then-Rep. Ron Paul, the Washington Post reported Thursday.

Also indicted were John Tate, a Warrenton resident, and Jesse Benton, of Louisville, Ky. Tate served as Paul’s campaign manager in 2012. Paul’s son Rand, a U.S. senator from Kentucky, is running for the Republican Party’s nomination for president in 2016.

To see the indictment handed up by the grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, click here.

The Post reported that Kesari is accused of writing a check to then-Iowa state Sen. Kent Sorenson for $25,000 after soliciting his endorsement of Ron Paul. The check was never deposited.

The three are also accused of trying to conceal the payment from federal authorities, and arranging other payments to Sorenson.

Kesari is reportedly a veteran of Loudoun politics, having served on the county’s Planning Commission and water board.