- Ruben Verastigui was arrested on Friday on charges of receiving and possessing child pornography.
- Verastigui’s LinkedIn indicates that he worked for the Senate Republican Conference until July.
- He also previously worked for the Republican National Committee and designed ads for Trump.
- Visit the Insider Business Department for more stories.
A former GOP staffer, who once designed campaign ads for Trump, has been arrested on child pornography charges.
According to a press release from Washington, the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, 27-year-old Ruben Verastigui was arrested on Friday on charges of distributing, receiving and possessing images of child pornography, following an investigation that began last March.
Verastigui’s LinkedIn page shows a long history of work for Republicans and Conservatives.
When the investigation began, he worked as a digital strategist for the Senate Republican conference, leaving the position in July to become communications manager at Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions, a conservative nonprofit of green energy.
Verastigui appears to have been fired following his arrest.
‘The details of the allegations against Mr. Verastigui is tragic and shocking, ‘a non-profit organization spokesman told The Daily Beast on Saturday. “He is no longer employed by the organization, and we are prepared to cooperate fully with law enforcement requests in this matter.”
He also previously worked as a senior designer for the Republican National Committee from May 2017 to July 2018. Part of his role was designing advertisements for then-President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign.
His work history also includes stints at various anti-abortion organizations.
The Daily Beast and The Washington Post have obtained court documents on the arrest of Verastigui, giving more insight into the allegations.
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The documents set out how Homeland Security’s special agencies came across Verastigui while searching an unnamed website for a group of at least 18 people who traded child pornography.
Verastigui sent messages to the group saying he wanted to see ‘hardcore’ videos, the records read.
At one point, it is alleged that Verastigui asked another member of the group to come to DC “for the purpose of sexually abusing a minor”, according to the records.
According to court documents, Verastigui admitted that he was active on the website after his arrest on Friday.
A spokesman for the Senate Republican Conference said for comment by The Post: “We have just heard of this investigation and arrest. The individual has not worked for the SRC since 2 July 2020. ‘
Insiders reached out to the United States Joint Economic Committee and the Republican National Committee, where Verastigui had previously worked, but received no immediate response from any Sunday morning.
An email to Verastigui’s lawyer went unanswered Sunday morning.