A Trump delegate from Maryland was indicted on child porn, guns, and explosives charges

Donald Trump, do you know who your delegates are?

Last week, Mother Jones reported that William Johnson, a white nationalist and leader of the American Freedom Party, had been listed by the Trump campaign as a California delegate. In an interview with Fusion, Johnson explained:

Donald Trump promotes a nationalist platform, and the rest of the mainstream—whether it’s the Mitt Romney Republicans, or the Hillary Clinton Democrats—they promote the globalist platform. That’s the epic battle everyone’s dealing with, and Donald Trump—Donald Trump is the herald, the leader, the founder of the resurgence of the nationalist platform.

Johnson’s selection was labeled a “database error” by the Trump campaign and he has said he would resign his delegacy. And that, one would think, would be the end of Trump’s delegate problems. Surely, a campaign couldn’t do worse than “accidentally” choose a white nationalist as a representative at their party’s convention.

Think again.

This week it was reported that Caleb Andrew Bailey, a resident of Waldorf, Maryland, listed as a Trump delegate after the presumptive GOP nominee won that state in April, had been indicted by federal officials on charges including the illegal transportation of explosives, the illegal possession of a machine gun, and the possession of child pornography.

A release from the U.S. Attorney’s office explains that Bailey came to the attention of federal officials after a package at a Maryland post office had accidentally torn open, revealing its contents—hundreds of rounds of ammunition. And not just ammunition, as an affidavit from one of the investigating officers explains:

Yes, some of the rounds were so powerful that they aren’t considered ammunition at all, and accordingly, require a special license to transport. What’s more, the affidavit points out, this ruptured package was just one of five that had been mailed to the same person, determined later to be the owner of a Wisconsin gun shop.

After several attempts to connect with Bailey, who by then had reached out to the post office to inquire about the status of his package, federal officials executed a search warrant on his house. There they found an illegally owned machine gun.

The U.S. Attorney’s office’ release also states Bailey “attempted to use and did use a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct to produce child pornography.  The indictment also alleges that Bailey possessed child pornography.”

The release does not indicate how the child pornography came to the attention of law enforcement.

Since his arrest and indictment, the local Republican establishment has scrambled to distance themselves from Bailey; Maryland Republican Party executive Director Joe Cluster told The Daily Beast that “We are asking him to resign, and will soon be be in process of replacing him. We are promoting an alternate delegate from the district … Somebody got lucky, I guess. [The replacement] can sit on the floor now.”

A representative from the Trump campaign also spoke with that publication, saying: “We strongly condemn these allegations and leave it in the capable hands of law enforcement. He will be replaced immediately.”

Wonder who the Trump campaign will pick next?