SHADY DEALINGS

McConnell Campaign Manager Resigns

Jesse Benton under probe for endorsement-for-pay deal.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s campaign manager, Jesse Benton, has resigned amid a federal investigation into an endorsement-for-pay deal from the 2012 Iowa caucuses. In a statement, Benton pointed fingers at “inaccurate press accounts and unsubstantiated media rumors about me and my role in past campaigns that are politically motivated, unfair and, most importantly, untrue.” McConnell, Benton says, “reluctantly accepted” his resignation. “The press accounts and rumors are particularly hurtful because they are false,” Benton wrote. “However, what is most troubling to me is that they risk unfairly undermining and becoming a distraction to this reelection campaign.”