Former Michele Bachmann aide to testify in ethics probe

POLITICO.com

Rep. Michele Bachmann’s former chief of staff is expected to admit that her presidential campaign inappropriately paid an Iowa state senator to work for her, according to a report. The allegations center on Iowa State Sen. Kent Sorenson. Bachmann’s former chief of staff, Andy Parrish, and another aide, Peter Waldron, will tell an Iowa Senate ethics panel that Bachmann’s campaign hid payments to Sorenson, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Iowa Senators aren’t allowed to receive payments from presidential campaigns under the chamber’s ethics rules. Parrish and Waldron said Bachmann’s campaign paid Sorenson $7,500 a month by funneling the money through a Colorado-based firm owned by a Bachmann fundraiser.