Will Calvin Klein Start Making Prison Clothes?

This article was originally published in the Western Free Press.

In 2012, conservative filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza was prosecuted and convicted for giving a handful of associates money they then contributed to a political candidate of his preference. These “straw man” contributions landed D’Souza eight months in a community confinement center and five years of probation.

How much money was involved in this indiscretion? Only $20,000. That’s right: D’Souza landed eight months confinement and five years of probation for a $20,000 campaign finance violation.

The Democrats’ response? Hold my beer.

The Committee to Defend the President has filed a Federal Election Commission (FEC) complaint against Hillary Clinton’s campaign and her “Joint Fundraising Committee” (the Hillary Victory Fund), the Democratic National Committee (DNC), dozens of Democratic state parties, and Democratic mega-donors. As various outlets have reported, we documented the Democratic establishment “us[ing] state chapters as straw men to circumvent campaign donation limits and launder the money back to [Clinton’s] campaign.” The 101-page complaint detailed how Hillary Victory—the $500 million joint fundraising effort between the Clinton campaign, DNC, and state parties—did exactly what the Supreme Court deemed illegal in its 2014 McCutcheon v. FEC ruling. (As Shaun McCutcheon’s lawyer in the case, I should know!)

How much was involved in this scheme? Roughly $84 million, making this money laundering enterprise 4,000 times larger than D’Souza’s in 2012. If and when the FEC confirms the allegations through the Committee’s own public reports, this will go down as the single largest campaign finance scandal in U.S. history.

Based on former DNC Chairwoman Donna Brazile’s public comments, a memo from Clinton campaign manager Robbie Mook, and FEC reports filed by Democratic groups themselves, Hillary Victory solicited six-figure donations from major donors—including fashion icon Calvin Klein—and routed them through state parties en route to the Clinton campaign.

Some of America’s most recognizable names—from Klein to Apple’s Tim Cook and director Steven Spielberg—are now in the hot seat for sums 10 times larger than in D’Souza’s case.

To understand why more than 1,000 Democratic donors are in trouble, you have to dive into the murky waters of campaign finance law. An individual donor can legally contribute $2,700 to any candidate, $10,000 to any state party committee, and (in 2015-2016) $33,400 to a national party. These entities can legally form “Joint Fundraising Committees” to accept a single check from one donor for the sum of those limits—legal because the donor cannot exceed the base limit to any one recipient. And state parties can make unlimited transfers to their national party.

As the Supreme Court made clear in McCutcheon v. FEC, Joint Fundraising Committees could not solicit or accept contributions designed to circumvent base limits and earmarked to the candidate.

Yet liberal Hollywood’s six-figure donations to Hillary Victory did precisely that, never actually coming under state party control as required before washing up in the DNC accounts. Democratic donors, responding to likely-unlawful solicitations, likely expected their funds would end up with Clinton’s campaign and wrote six-figure checks to further this scheme.

Of course, the donors involved may plead ignorance to escape culpability. But ask yourself honestly: Does Calvin Klein truly care about the Alaska Democratic Party? Or was he trying to curry favor from Hillary Clinton? Which one seems more plausible?

If and when the FEC—exercising its broad investigative authority—confirms these donors’ complicity, the Committee’s allegations could result in substantial civil and criminal liability for many of the over 1,000 wealthy Democrats who may have contributed to fund this scheme.

Don’t take my word for it. Brazile famously acknowledged Clinton’s fundraising practices “compromised the party’s integrity.” Mark Longabaugh, a former Sanders staffer, has called them “outrageous.” Even the pro-Clinton news outlet Vox described Brazile’s story as a “bombshell.” The Committee’s complaint is built entirely on the FEC reports filed by Democrats and public statements like these.

Should Calvin Klein’s celebrity buy him a pass from breaking the law? We all enjoy Steven Spielberg’s movies, but do they leave him above the law Dinesh D’Souza violated to a far lesser extent—and went to jail for?

If the rich and powerful get a pass, does the law have any integrity at all?