Even if allegations made against conservative filmmaker Dinesh D'Souza
in a federal indictment on campaign finance violations prove to be true,
legal experts and former federal regulatory authorities tell Newsmax
that the government's handling of the case has been unusual."This is clearly a case of selective prosecution for one of the most common things done during elections, which is to get people to raise money for you," famed law professor Alan Dershowitz told Newsmax.
"If they went after everyone who did this, there would be no room in jails for murderers."
Federal prosecutors indicted D'Souza last week on two felony counts, charging that he promised to reimburse others if they would contribute to an unnamed Senate candidate, an offense that carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison, and causing false statements to be made to the FEC, which carries a maximum of five years.
Prosecutors allege that D'Souza illicitly directed a total of $20,000 in donations, with the money reportedly going to the New York Senate campaign of Republican Wendy Long, a long-time friend, who was handily defeated by Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand in last November's election.
The Justice Department's tactics remind Dershowitz of the words of Stalin's secret police chief, Lavrentiy Beria, who said, "Show me the man and I’ll find you the crime."
"This is an outrageous prosecution and is certainly a misuse of resources," charged Dershowitz. "It raises the question of why he is being selected for prosecution among the many, many people who commit similar crimes.
"This sounds to me like it is coming from higher places. It is hard for me to believe this did not come out of Washington or at least get the approval of those in Washington."
Others share Dershowitz's suspicions. Joseph diGenova, a former U.S. Attorney and partner at the law firm diGenova & Toensing, says it is not surprising that criminal charges were brought because the Justice Department has been actively prosecuting campaign finance violations.
"But what strikes me as unusual is that it involves a single donation made by an individual with no criminal record. It seems to me that a misdemeanor makes much more sense than a felony charge," diGenova told Newsmax.
The U.S. Justice Department's move against a popular conservative intellectual — D'Souza served as an adviser to President Ronald Reagan and most recently produced the box office blockbuster film "2016: Obama's America," which offered a harsh criticism of the president's world view as anti-American — has raised hackles on the right. D’Souza supporters claim the charges are politically motivated and that the Obama critic is being treated differently than the average defendant.
"What struck me first was that it is unusual in cases like these for the FBI to go out and actually arrest someone, simply because it is not necessary," David Mason, a former commissioner of the Federal Election Commission, told Newsmax.
"And even less so in this case because [D'Souza] has enough prominence that it is fairly obvious that he is not a flight risk. White collar indictments are made lots of times without an arrest being made," Mason said.
Law enforcement experts tell Newsmax that if the FBI or another federal agency received a tip about a fraudulent act involving just $20,000, the government would likely show little interest in investigating. Mason notes that a violation of $20,000 in contributions is trivial compared to most cases.
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