Dinesh D’Souza ’83 was indicted for campaign finance fraud on Thursday in relation to a 2012 U.S. Senate election. Although no candidates were named in the indictment, news organizations report that the race concerned was between Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand ’88, D-N.Y. and Republican challenger Wendy Long ’82.
The federal grand jury charged D’Souza with making illegal contributions in the names of others, which allowed him to surpass the 2012 donation limit of $2,500 per candidate in the primary and another $2,500 in the general election, Reuters reported.
D’Souza donated the maximum $5,000 to Long’s campaign, as did his then-wife Dixie D’Souza, Federal Election Commission records show. The couple donated their $10,000 on a single day, March 16, 2012.
The illicit donations mentioned in the indictment totaled an additional $20,000. D’Souza allegedly directed his associates to make the donations and subsequently reimbursed them, according to the indictment, which was obtained by Politico.
He was also charged with one count of causing false statements to be made to the FEC. Between the two charges, D’Souza faces up to seven years in prison, according to a statement released by the office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
The indictment resulted from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s review of FEC campaign filings after the 2012 New York Senate race, the statement said.
D’Souza, a conservative commentator, filmmaker, best-selling author and former college president, is scheduled to come to Hanover for a Jan. 30 event. The program, a debate between D’Souza and 1960s counterculture activist and Weather Underground founder Bill Ayers, is co-sponsored by The Dartmouth Review, which D’Souza led as editor during his time at the College.
The Dartmouth Review has been unable to reach D’Souza, and does not know if he will still be able to visit, editor Nick Desatnick ’15 said.
D’Souza is scheduled to be arraigned in federal court in New York on Friday.
