Finance

Appeals Court Wary of GOP Operative’s Campaign Finance Appeal

Published

2 years ago

February 12, 2024

Appeals Court Wary of GOP Operative’s Campaign Finance Appeal

A federal appeals court appeared unlikely to reverse a Republican political operative’s conviction for funneling political contributions from a Russian billionaire to former President Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit heard Jesse Benton’s challenge on Monday in a case that delved into complex campaign finance laws and communications to the jury at trial.

Benton, a one-time aide and grandson-in-law to Ron Paul, the former Texas GOP congressman and presidential candidate, is fighting his conviction on six counts of campaign finance violations and obstruction of justice. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

On appeal, Benton has challenged instructions given to the jury on how to consider a since-pardoned campaign finance conviction, and how a political contribution should’ve been defined.

Judge Florence Pan signaled she was inclined to find that Benton had missed his chance to challenge jury instructions at trial.

“I don’t see why you’re relieved of your obligation to contemporaneously object at the time the jury instructions are submitted,” Pan said. “You agreed to the jury instructions that were given, and now you’re challenging the same jury instructions that you co-sponsored.”

Judge Karen Henderson similarly questioned why Benton “couldn’t have lodged an objection to this” at the time.

Still, when questioning Justice Department lawyer, W. Connor Winn, she raised concerns about the instruction allowing the jury to consider Benton’s earlier campaign finance conviction in 2016 for which he was pardoned by Trump.

“I would think a lay juror would think, if he did the first one, he did this one,” she said.

Pan also appeared skeptical of Benton’s argument taking issue with the government’s decision to charge him under both the Federal Election Campaign Act and a financial recordkeeping law. Benton’s lawyer, Nicholas Harper of Gibson Dunn, told the judges that these statutes weren’t meant to overlap.

“The government routinely charges overlapping statutes,” Pan said. “What you’re proposing is extremely novel.”

Judge Bradley Garcia also said that the distance in time between when the two statutes were passed, and “what is going on” in the more recent recordkeeping statute, “might be a problem for you.”

Foreign Money

Benton was once a force in Republican politics. He also managed Senate campaigns for Kentucky Republicans Rand Paul, Ron Paul’s son, and Mitch McConnell, now minority leader.

Benton was indicted in 2021 after prosecutors said he solicited a sizable contribution from Roman Vasilenko, labeling it as consulting services and then giving some of the funds to Trump’s campaign committee.

According to prosecutors, Vasilenko wired Benton $100,000, and Benton in exchange arranged for Vasilenko to visit the US and attend a fundraising event for Trump, where the businessman could meet and take a photo with him.

Benton then sent $25,000 to Trump’s fundraising committee to cover Vasilenko’s ticket, and didn’t disclose that the money came from Vasilenko, prosecutors said.

Campaign finance laws prohibit foreign nationals from making contributions to political committees, or related to federal presidential elections.

Benton was initially indicted in the scheme alongside Douglas Wead, a former official in the George H. W. Bush administration. Wead died before trial.

At the appeals court, Benton’s lawyers honed in on Vasilenko’s intent when providing the funds to Benton.

In court filings, they argued that Vasilenko “had no interest” in US politics and didn’t provide the funds for the purpose of swaying the campaign, and that the government had provided “bare bones” evidence to the contrary. They also contended the jury had been “misled” in instructions related to this issue.

Benton’s team also took issue with the lower court’s decision to allow his prior conviction to be raised at trial.

“The district court’s decision to admit Mr. Benton’s prior conviction contravened the President’s judgment that he is innocent of those offenses and improperly swayed the jury to convict,” Benton said in court papers.

The government said in court papers that Benton had asserted a “novel argument” on the standard for a political contribution, and regardless, that they had presented “ample evidence” that Vasilenko intended to influence the election.

The case is: USA v. Jesse Benton, D.C. Cir., No. 23-3028 Oral Argument

Finance

Paramount ally RedBird says using Middle East money to help buy Warner Bros. could be a good idea

Published

7 hours ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

Paramount ally RedBird says using Middle East money to help buy Warner Bros. could be a good idea

2026-03-05T17:27:03.819Z

Last year, Paramount said it would use $24 billion in funding from Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, and Qatar to help buy WBD.
Now that Paramount has won that deal, it won’t say whether that’s still the plan.
A key Paramount backer suggests that Gulf money would be a good thing for this deal.

We still don’t know if Paramount intends to use billions of dollars from Gulf states like Saudi Arabia to help it buy Warner Bros. Discovery.

But if Paramount does end up doing that, it wouldn’t be a bad thing, says a key Paramount backer.

That update comes via Gerry Cardinale, who heads up RedBird Capital Partners, the private equity company that helped finance Larry and David Ellison’s acquisition of Paramount last year and is doing the same with their WBD deal now.

In a podcast with Puck’s Matt Belloni published Wednesday night, Cardinale wouldn’t comment directly on Paramount’s previously disclosed plans to use $24 billion from sovereign wealth funds controlled by Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, and Qatar to help buy WBD.

Instead, he reiterated Paramount’s current messaging on the deal’s financing: The $47 billion in equity Paramount will use to buy WBD will be “backstopped” by the Ellison family and RedBird — meaning they are ultimately on the hook to pay up. The rest of the $81 billion deal will be financed with debt.

Cardinale also acknowledged what Paramount has disclosed in its current disclosure documents: It intends to sell portions of that $47 billion commitment to other investors: “We haven’t syndicated anything at this time,” he said. “We do expect to syndicate with strategic, domestic, and foreign investors. But at the end of the day, that alchemy shouldn’t matter because it’ll be done in the right way.”

And when asked about concerns about Middle Eastern countries owning part of a media conglomerate that includes assets like CNN, Cardinale suggested that could be a plus.

“I think we want to be a global company,” he said. “You look at what’s going on right now geopolitically. What’s going on right now geopolitically out of the Middle East wouldn’t be, the positives of that would not be happening without some of those sovereigns that you’re referring to.”

He continued:

“The world is changing. We can stick our head in the sand and pretend it’s not, or we can embrace globalization and the derivative benefits both geopolitically and otherwise that come from that. Content generation coming out of Hollywood is one of America’s greatest exports.

I firmly embrace the global nature and orientation that we bring to this from a capital standpoint, from a footprint standpoint, etc. At the end of the day, I do understand some of the concerns that you’ve raised, but that will work itself out between signing and closing because at the end of the day, worst-case scenario, Ellison and RedBird are 100% of this thing.”

All of which suggests to me that Paramount still intends to use money from Gulf-based sovereign wealth funds to buy WBD.

What I don’t understand is why the company won’t say that out loud. Does that mean it’s still negotiating with potential investors? Or that it’s reticent to disclose outside investors, for whatever reason, until it has to? A Paramount rep declined to comment.

Finance

Crypto bill hits new impasse, raising doubts over its future

Published

19 hours ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

Crypto bill hits new impasse, raising doubts over its future

Talks on landmark crypto legislation have hit a new impasse after banks said they could not back a compromise pushed by the White House, a development that cast doubt on whether the bill will pass this year and sparked criticism from President Donald Trump who accused lenders of trying to undermine it.

Finance

Stamford Finance Students Wow Judges, Take Home Trophy in Regional CFA Competition – UConn Today

Published

1 day ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

Stamford Finance Students Wow Judges, Take Home Trophy in Regional CFA Competition – UConn Today

A tenacious team of finance majors, who sacrificed most of their winter break to prepare for the CFA Institute Research Challenge, took first place in that regional competition last week.

Students Hunter Baillargeon, Dylan Fischetto, Richard Opper, Philip Ochocinski and Rushit Chauhan were tasked with researching and analyzing a major utility company, and then producing a 10-page report about whether to buy, hold, or sell its stock. They chose to sell.

One of the CFA judges said both the team’s report and presentation were among the best he had seen in many years.

“As a team, we were thrilled our hard work paid off and our many hours of work allowed us to achieve what we did,’’ Baillargeon said. “What we accomplished couldn’t have been done without working with such a cohesive and collective unit.’’

“From a technical perspective, I realize how valuable true analysis is and the importance of looking where others don’t for a differentiated approach,’’ Baillargeon said.

The first round of competition featured 24 college teams from the Stamford-Hartford-Providence region. The Stamford team, composed of seniors all of whom all participate in UConn’s Student Managed Fund program, received its first-place award Feb. 26 in a ceremony in Hartford. The team will advance to the East Coast competition later this month.

Stamford Finance Program is Robust

“The Stamford team’s advancement in this competition reflects not only the students’ exceptional talent and work ethic, but also the rigor and applied focus of the UConn finance curriculum,’’ said professor Yiming Qian, head of the Finance Department.

“Our Stamford campus hosts approximately 200 financial management majors. The Stamford program is a vital part of the School and continues to demonstrate outstanding strength,” she said.

Professors Steve Wilson and Jeff Bianchi, who combined have 75 years of experience in the investment industry, were the team’s advisers and were supported by academic director Katherine Pancak.

Wilson said the task of analyzing a utility is particularly complex because of the company’s structure and the regulatory environment in which it operates.

“I believe the Stamford team stood out because of the depth of their research, and willingness to take a bold stand, including the decision to ‘go out on a limb’ and recommend selling the stock,’’ he said. “They didn’t ‘play it safe.’’’

“This clean-sweep was a true team effort. They were tireless throughout, and sleepless too often, but they never wavered from their desire to always dig deeper and uncover any information that would strengthen our investment case,’’ he said. “What a phenomenal job they did!’’

Competition in Hong Kong Is Ultimate Goal

The Stamford team will compete against Loyola, Canisius, Sacred Heart; Seton Hall, Villanova, St. Michaels, Western New England, University of Maine, Fordham and Penn State next. In total, some 8,000 students are expected to participate in various competitions worldwide, culminating in a championship round in Hong Kong in May.

Wilson said the financial industry is always welcoming of new talent. And when one of the judges told him that the Stamford team produced some of the best work that he’d seen in years, Wilson felt tremendous pride for the students.

“Finance is an open playing field. In investments, the best idea wins,’’ he said.

Baillargeon said he will always appreciate the whole team’s dedication.

“What I’ll remember most is the help of our advisers and our cohesive, close-knit team where everyone pulled their weight,’’ Baillargeon said. “We put in long hours, did a tremendous amount of research, and collaborated well together. I hope when I enter the workforce I get to work with a team as committed as this one is.’’