Ben Carson's campaign descends into turmoil as 2 top aides abruptly resign

Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson's presidential campaign just lost two of its most senior staffers.

Carson's former communications director, Doug Watts, told Business Insider that both he and campaign manager Barry Bennett had left Carson's team.

"Barry Bennett and I have resigned from the Carson campaign effective immediately," Watts wrote in an email.

The Des Moines Register's Jennifer Jacobs reported that her sources said the two senior aides quit amid tensions with Carson's business manager, Armstrong Williams. Williams frequently acts as an official surrogate for the Republican candidate.

Meanwhile, The Washington Post's Robert Costa spoke with Bennett, who said his "frustration level has peaked with Dr. Carson's outside advisers."

"Lots of other people are resigning," Bennett told The Post.

Immediately after the news broke, the upper levels of the Carson campaign were left in apparent "chaos":

The two high-profile resignations come despite a strong fund-raising report that the Carson campaign announced Wednesday: a $23 million haul in the fourth quarter of 2015. Watts mentioned that report in his statement to Business Insider.

"We respect the candidate and we have enjoyed helping him go from far back in the field to top tier status," Watts wrote while touting the numbers.

"We are proud of our efforts for Dr. Carson and we wish him and his campaign the best of luck," he added.

Carson surged in the Republican-primary polls at times this year and even challenged real-estate mogul Donald Trump's front-runner status in October, especially in Iowa. Carson's position has declined in recent weeks, however, amid questions about the candidate's foreign-policy knowledge and campaign infighting.

CNN reported a bit over two weeks ago that Carson's campaign was in "crisis" as Williams and the official campaign team were publicly criticizing each other for dragging down their candidate. At the time, Watts told Business Insider the campaign was not in "chaos."

Carson said last week, however, that he planned to shake up his senior campaign staff, but he then appeared to backtrack. Costa reported that Carson got "cold feet" but that Bennett nevertheless felt "burned" by the incident.

He also reported that the Carson team would announce a new campaign manager - Bob Dees, a retired US Army major general who has advised Carson on foreign policy and national security - at a Monday press conference.

"Doctor Carson remains in charge. We will have new campaign leadership for him," Williams told The Post.

Business Insider reached out to Williams for comment and will update this post if we hear back.

Additional reporting by Brett LoGiurato.