Former president indicted for illegally endorsing political candidate

New York, NEW YORK -- Political commentator, author, producer, artificial tree salesman and former president of The King's College, Dinesh D'Souza is in the news once again, this time for allegedly violating campaign finance laws. A statement regarding D'Souza's indictment and arrest was released Thursday by the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. According to the indictment, D'Souza contributed over $10,000 to political campaigns under the names of other individuals. The Senate candidate that D'Souza is accused of illegally endorsing is Wendy Long. Long was in the running to fill the Senate seat of former New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, but lost to current Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.

There are a few puzzling factors surrounding this case. For one, Long, who attended Dartmouth College with D'Souza in the 80s, was not mentioned in Thursday's indictment. And one has to wonder: Why is D'Souza's indictment national news? Several mainstream news organizations were quick to break the case Thursday evening, which involves potentially $15,000 of excessive funding (federal law limits $5,000 in campaign contributions from any one individual to any one candidate; D'Souza allegedly contributed a total of $20,000). In the grand scheme of political corruption, this doesn't seem particularly noteworthy, much less newsworthy. Could there be more to the story?

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Gerard Molen, D'Souza's co-producer for the film 2016, shared his belief that the accusations are politically motivated. D'Souza was made aware of the investigation earlier in 2013, months after the smash documentary raked in $33 million in box office sales. When he was informed about the indictment, D'Souza was in San Diego working on his latest book and film, both titled America, scheduled to hit theaters Independence Day, 2014. Molen told THR that D'Souza is being targeted for the alleged violation because of his strong conservative affiliations:

“In light of the recent events and the way the IRS has been used to stifle dissent, this arrest should send shivers down the spines of all freedom-loving Americans,” Molen says.

While King's former president has has his share of scandals, it remains to be seen if the pending case is one of them. D'Souza will appear before U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman for his arraignment tomorrow.

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