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'Humiliated' Dinesh D'Souza seeks probation after guilty plea
Reuters ^ | 09/05/2014 | Jonathan Stempel

Posted on 09/09/2014 8:10:16 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

The conservative author and filmmaker Dinesh D'Souza has asked a federal judge to sentence him to probation and community service after pleading guilty to a campaign finance law violation.

In a Wednesday court filing, D'Souza's lawyers said their client will present himself as a "disgraced and humiliated man" who acted out of character by having two "straw donors" donate $10,000 each to his friend Wendy Long's unsuccessful 2012 U.S. Senate campaign in New York, and then reimbursing them.

The sentencing recommendation includes an unusual statement from D'Souza, 53, to U.S. District Judge Richard Berman in Manhattan, who will impose sentence at a Sept. 23 hearing.

D'Souza said the means he chose to help Long, a Republican he had known since both attended Dartmouth College, was "completely aberrant," and has led to his credibility as a public figure to be called into question. He added there was "zero chance" he would commit the crime again.

"I cannot believe how stupid I was, how careless, and how irresponsible," D'Souza wrote.

"I took a short-cut, knowing that there was a campaign limit and trying to get around the limit," he continued. "This should not have happened, and I am ashamed and contrite that it did."

The Mumbai-born D'Souza, who became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1991, proposed community service that could involve teaching, instructing new immigrants in English, or working at the Boys and Girls Club of Greater San Diego.

D'Souza faces up to two years in prison. Federal prosecutors have until Sept. 8 to make their sentencing recommendation.

(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: dineshdsouza; dsouza
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1 posted on 09/09/2014 8:10:16 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

The nail that sticks up gets pounded down. Again.


2 posted on 09/09/2014 8:11:32 AM PDT by henkster (Do I really need a sarcasm tag?)
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To: SeekAndFind

“I took a short-cut, knowing that there was a campaign limit and trying to get around the limit,” he continued. “This should not have happened, and I am ashamed and contrite that it did.”

Theres something you’ll probably never hear from a dem/lib.


3 posted on 09/09/2014 8:13:32 AM PDT by V_TWIN
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To: SeekAndFind

I really like him.....he was foolish to have done this!!!


4 posted on 09/09/2014 8:13:51 AM PDT by ontap
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To: SeekAndFind

Sounds to me like some ugly element of society has threatened him or his family into confessing to a trumped up charge....

...but maybe that’s just me....


5 posted on 09/09/2014 8:14:29 AM PDT by PATRIOT1876
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To: SeekAndFind

Meanwhile, Obama and Holder roam free. Talk about “injustice”!


6 posted on 09/09/2014 8:14:40 AM PDT by txrefugee
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To: SeekAndFind
Apparently D'Souza has been told he'll have the book thrown at him unless he loudly grovels.

Its important to publicly diminish any critic of the state.

7 posted on 09/09/2014 8:15:18 AM PDT by skeeter
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To: ontap

RE: I really like him.....he was foolish to have done this!!!

That aside, is the law constitutional?


8 posted on 09/09/2014 8:15:58 AM PDT by SeekAndFind (If at first you don't succeed, put it out for beta test.)
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To: SeekAndFind

When will Lois Lerner be ‘humiliated’?


9 posted on 09/09/2014 8:21:08 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer (The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

What I want top know is why have this law in the first place?

If I have $20,000 and I want to help a candidate out because I believe she is the best for the country, why is it a violation of the constitution to contribute that money to her campaign?


10 posted on 09/09/2014 8:23:38 AM PDT by SeekAndFind (If at first you don't succeed, put it out for beta test.)
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To: ontap

I’m a big fan as well, to have done this is just bizarre.


11 posted on 09/09/2014 8:26:34 AM PDT by ansel12 (LEGAL immigrants, 30 million 1980-2012, continues to remake the nation's electorate for democrats)
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To: SeekAndFind
This law and all campaign finance laws that limit the ability for a person to speak, whether through a surrogate in an election, or through his own campaign are not only against the letter of the Constitution, but its’ spirit.

The fact is that these laws are passed to protect incumbents from their potential political rivals. Campaign finance laws are a prime reason why 98%+ of all incumbents are reelected. No one can afford to launch a campaign against them except a person of vast wealth. Only the incumbent machine polls and wealthy can compete.

A wealthy politician can spend as much on his own race as he wants to without limits, yet he can not underwrite someone he feels would be a good public servant. He is limited to sometimes as little as $2,500. This leads to situations where that person will find 100 friends or employees to give the maximum, even if he has to promise in kind favors or even reimburse that person.

It is a bastardized version of our supposed Republic.

12 posted on 09/09/2014 8:28:07 AM PDT by Jim from C-Town (The government is rarely benevolent, often malevolent and never benign!)
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To: V_TWIN

Sadly he would go further if he gave the emotional communist line of “we were so broke”... communist judges want to hear excuses, not logical assessments of mistakes of the road... that is too capitalistic industrialist.


13 posted on 09/09/2014 8:29:40 AM PDT by lavaroise (A well regulated gun being necessary to the state, the rights of the militia shall not be infringed)
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To: SeekAndFind

Any money that the Democrat Party doesn’t get is a violation of the Constitution. It does not matter how they get it, theft, robbery, murder, as long as they get it. If D’Souza had given to the Democrat Party, nothing would have been said.


14 posted on 09/09/2014 8:30:52 AM PDT by sport
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To: SeekAndFind
If he goes to political prison he'll have time to write more ...


15 posted on 09/09/2014 8:31:05 AM PDT by Liberty Valance (Keep a simple manner for a happy life :o)
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To: Jim from C-Town

Well, it looks like D’Souza did the illegal thing but NOT the immoral thing.


16 posted on 09/09/2014 8:31:16 AM PDT by SeekAndFind (If at first you don't succeed, put it out for beta test.)
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To: SeekAndFind
D'Souza faces up to two years in prison. Federal prosecutors have until Sept. 8 to make their sentencing recommendation.

He will be made an example of...

17 posted on 09/09/2014 8:32:21 AM PDT by gov_bean_ counter (Romans 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools)
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To: V_TWIN
You are correct. But check back to Stalin's show trials and you will find words to the effect of "...ashamed and contrite that it did.” uttered by every defendant.
18 posted on 09/09/2014 8:33:52 AM PDT by sport
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To: V_TWIN

“This should not have happened, and I am ashamed and contrite that it did.”

If Dinesh was a Democrat:

“The first time I heard about these campaign finance violations was when I read about them in the paper. No white film maker has ever had to endure this sort of treatment. These trumped up charges just prove that some in government can’t accept the idea of an Indian film maker being successful...”


19 posted on 09/09/2014 8:34:45 AM PDT by Junk Silver
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To: Junk Silver

Dinesh is a strange duck. His opinions are not in sync with conservatives exactly like people might think.


20 posted on 09/09/2014 8:36:38 AM PDT by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans)
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