In 2012, then-Iowa Republican State Senator Kent Sorenson switched his support from Michele Bachmann to Ron Paul just before the Iowa caucuses. Yesterday, Sorenson pled guilty on charges that someone paid him $73,000 in laundered money for his endorsement of Ron Paul, and on charges that Sorenson lied about the money when asked by an ethics commission. NPR's Peter Overby says a sentencing date has not yet been set.

The big question, Overby writes, is where the money came from: "Since Sorenson says he was paid $73,000 by the Paul campaign, somebody presumably was paying him. Is the Justice Department investigating?" This is important, because the Rand Paul political machine is mostly made up of tired old parts of the Ron Paul machine. Did the Ron Paul campaign pay Sorenson to switch sides? If so, did they pay anyone else for their endorsement? And if someone in the Paul campaign did pay off Sorenson, where does that person work now? We know that Rand Paul worked with white supremacists; is it possible that he works with money-laundering endorsement-buyers, too?