Conservative author Dinesh D’Souza ’83 pleaded guilty to campaign finance fraud before U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman on Tuesday, acknowledging that he made illegal contributions through other donors. His trial was scheduled to begin on Tuesday in Manhattan, said Jerika Richardson, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York.
D’Souza pleaded guilty to one count of making campaign contributions in the names of others to a federal election campaign, according to a statement released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York. D’Souza was also charged with making false statements about these contributions. This count is expected to be dismissed at D’Souza’s sentencing, which Richardson said is set for Sept. 23 at 11 a.m.
During Tuesday’s plea proceedings, D’Souza accepted responsibility for urging two “close associates” to contribute $10,000 each to the 2012 U.S. Senate campaign of Republican Wendy Long ’82, before reimbursing these individuals for their contributions, D’Souza’s attorney Benjamin Brafman wrote in a statement. D’Souza also admitted that he knew his actions were wrong and forbidden by the law, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office statement.
“Given the technical nature of the charge, there was no viable defense,” Brafman’s statement read.
D’Souza, 53, could face between 10 and 16 months in prison and could be fined up to $250,000.
“We are hopeful that Judge Berman will recognize Mr. D’Souza to be a fundamentally honorable man who should not be imprisoned for what was an isolated instance of wrongdoing in an otherwise productive and responsible life,” Brafman’s statement said.
Last week, Berman denied a pretrial motion filed by D’Souza to dismiss the indictment for selective prosecution, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office statement. Berman ruled there was no evidence to support D’Souza’s motion.
D’Souza was indicted in January for illegally redirecting $20,000 in campaign contributions to Long’s campaign. Long lost the race to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand ’88, D-N.Y., in 2012. D’Souza donated the maximum campaign contribution allowed by law — $5,000 -— to Long’s campaign on March 16, 2012, Federal Election Commission records show. That same day, his then-wife, Dixie D’Souza, also made a $5,000 contribution to Long’s campaign.
In August 2012, D’Souza directed his assistant and a woman with whom he was involved romantically to contribute to Long’s campaign on behalf of themselves and their spouses, promising he would reimburse them for their $20,000 in contributions, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office statement.
D’Souza’s actions violated the Federal Election Campaign Act, which then limited campaign contributions to $5,000 from any individual to any single candidate. D’Souza reimbursed each “straw donor” $10,000 in cash on the same day of their donations, the statement said. D’Souza misled Long before admitting to his actions, according to the statement.
On Jan. 30, D’Souza visited the College to debate former antiwar activist Bill Ayers in front of 400 students, faculty and community members. The Dartmouth Review, of which D’Souza was editor-in-chief as a student, hosted the debate. D’Souza did not address the campaign finance fraud allegations while on campus.
Public policy professor Charles Wheelan said that while D’Souza’s decision to plead guilty makes sense given his clear violation of the law, D’Souza should not spend time in prison. The guilty plea’s effect on D’Souza’s reputation will be significant, he said, adding that jail time would not deter future violators.
Wheelan also highlighted the asymmetry between D’Souza’s case, which involved $20,000 in campaign funds, and a recent Supreme Court case striking the $123,200 cap on campaign contributions per electoral cycle.
On April 2, the Supreme Court ruled in McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission that biennial aggregate contribution limits are unconstitutional, following a recent trend of permitting larger political contributions. In 2010, Citizens United v. Federal Electoral Commission said restrictions on political contributions from corporations, associations or labor unions violated the First Amendment.
Current campaign contribution laws, under the jurisdiction of the Federal Electoral Commission, state that a single individual may not donate more than $2,600 to a single candidate in a given election period and $32,400 to a national party in a calendar year.
Brafman and the U.S. Attorney’s office denied requests for further comment. U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara declined to comment, referring to the U.S. Attorney’s Office statement. D’Souza did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
