Will Rosie ODonnell Serve Time Like Dinesh DSouza?

By Rachel Alexander Left-wing activist and comedian Rosie ODonnell has been caughtcontributing more than the legal limit to five Democratic political candidates. She used four variations of her name and five different New York addresses to make the contributions. This may show intent to disguise them. Federal Election Commission rules limit contributions to federal candidates to $2700 per election. Donors can max that out in a primary race then max it out again during a general election for the same candidate. ODonnell contributed more than $2700 each to five candidates during the primary race. The offense is punishable by large fines from the FEC. The FEC can also choose to let a donor move an excess donation from a primary race into the general election or refund it. It doesnt have to impose the full amount of the fines and it certainly does not have to criminally prosecute the individual. ODonnells contributions are similar to what conservative author and filmmaker Dinesh DSouza did during the 2012 election cycle. He asked two friends and their spouses to contribute $10000 each to a congressional campaign then he reimbursed them. Prosecutors chose to bring charges against him and he ended up pleading guilty to the felony of making illegal contributions in the names of others. He was sentenced to eight months in a halfway house five years probation and a $30000 fine. But prosecutors didnt need to bring charges against him. Especially not felony charges. Left-leaning Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz said at the time I cant help but think that Mr. DSouzas politics have something to do with it… . It smacks of selective prosecution." Dershowitz toldNewsmax 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. If they went after everyone who did this there would be no room in jails for murderers. Former U.S. Attorney Joe DiGenova observed that the prosecution was unusual considering it involved a single donation made by an individual with no criminal record. David Mason a former commissioner of the Federal Election Commission told Newsmax that the prosecution had to show beyond a reasonable doubt that DSouza broke the law knowingly and willfully." Campaign finance law is complex and the average person who is not an attorney or working on campaigns might not have known this was against the law. DSouza said he was unaware it was a campaign violation. I am a former county elections attorney who worked on several campaigns and I wasnt even aware it was against the law until DSouzas prosecution. Four Republican senators wrote to then-FBI Director James Comey and accused the Obama administration of using the DOJ to take down a prominent critic. The Washington Times notes that in contrast Obamas 2008 presidential campaign failed to disclose millions of dollars in contributions and missed deadlines for refunding millions in excess contributions. Yet it was merely fined $375000 and no one was prosecuted for felonies. ODonnell claims she did not know she had exceeded campaign finance limits. Then why did she use four different versions of her name and five different residential addresses? The FEC penalties for contributing over the allowed limit and contributing in anothers name are quite similar they are both fines. If DSouzas situation was escalated to criminal prosecution then how is ODonnells situation any different if not worse? DSouza tweeted about ODonnell Five times more egregious than my case. Now lets see if Lady Justice is truly blind." ODonnell will likely get away with the five improper contributions. Unlike ODonnell the legal system was stacked against DSouza. DSouza was prosecuted by U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara a former staff member to Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York and an Obama appointee. U.S. District Court Judge Richard Berman a Clinton appointee sentenced DSouza. Fortunately Trump has replaced many of the Obama-era U.S. Attorneys. He fired Bharara. But Berman is still on the bench. The left dominates the legal system and has wrongly used it against many prominent conservatives. If ODonnell is not prosecuted it will scream injustice regarding what happened to DSouza.