Trump Hired Adviser He Pardoned for Campaign Finance Crimes
Former President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign is once again spitting on campaign finance laws, this time by hiring a strategist who was convicted of crimes related to a political bribery scheme—and who Trump later pardoned.
According to new disclosures filed over the weekend, Trump’s political operation has hired John Tate via his company, JFT Consulting, Inc. JFT received about $13,000 for “political strategy consulting” in June—a $2,903 installment on June 6, followed by a flat $10,000 at month’s end.
In 2016, a jury convicted Tate for campaign finance crimes related to a bribery scheme in support of the 2012 presidential campaign of then-Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX). Tate, a former top staffer to Paul, had worked the scheme alongside fellow Paul aides Jesse Benton and Dimitri Kesari, both of whom were also found guilty. Trump pardoned Tate and Benton in December 2020, but did not pardon Kesari.