- Washington Free Beacon - https://freebeacon.com -

Rand Paul Staffer Gets Punched (Barely), Doesn't Fight Back

A Republican operative working for Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) who has a history of making assault allegations says he was punched in the face last night by a top member of Sen. Marco Rubio's (R., Fla.) presidential campaign and did not fight back.

"He literally physically assaulted me by punching me in the face," wrote John Yob in a Facebook post that claims that Rubio deputy campaign manager Rich Beeson assaulted him at a bar on Michigan's Mackinac Island where the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference is being held.

Yob added in his post that "the state police are looking" for Beeson.

This is not the first accusation of physical assault made by Yob.

Earlier this year, Yob told police that he was assaulted twice by his wife, Erica Yob, in a course of 24 days.

Police were called to the Yob's home and arrested Erica Yob, although they reported "no visible injuries to John Yob."

Yob similarly chose to go to Facebook to address that incident, and blamed the attack on her "illness."

"It is unfortunate that my line of work has caused the illness that my family deals with to be played out in the news media," Yob wrote. "I am proud of her and happy that she is getting the help that she needs so that she can return to being the caring, talented, awesome person that she was before the illness."

Erica Yob, who was arrested on both Jan. 3 and Jan. 27, faced jail time. The charges for the first allegation of assault were dismissed, but she was forced to enter a  diversionary program that put her on probation for six months due to the second allegation.

The owner of the bar called last nights altercation a "nothingburger," adding that "somebody's just trying to get more attention."

Video of the "punch," when released on Twitter, drew mockery and mirth.

The local police chief told the New York Post that, to him, "it looked like a shove at the most."

"By no means was it a punch. By no means was it a brawl," said the police chief.

Blogger Brandon Hall of West Michigan Politics, who says he was also at the bar, supported Yob's claims in a post early this morning, writing that "Beeson may want to learn how to control his alcohol" and that Yob was "struck in the face with a powerful blow near the jaw."

Hall also defended Yob after his allegations against his wife, writing earlier this year that "Erica Yob made her bed and she'll have to sleep in it."

"Rather though, than judge or hate on the Yobs, let us take this moment to remember we are all human, we have all done some dumb things, and we all make mistakes," wrote Hall. "We can all make improvements in our own lives and should focus on making that a priority."

Hall, who has worked for Ron Paul affiliated political groups in the past, was caught stealing nearly a thousand dollars from a American Cancer Society fundraiser and spending the money at "McDonalds and Starbucks." He was given two years probation for the theft, and eventually would serve jail time because he broke probation by testing positive for marijuana twice.

Aside from his work for Paul, Yob's Strategic National firm also worked to help elect a member of the Michigan state legislature who was forced to resign his seat last week after being "caught up in a sex and cover-up scandal."