No Quid Pro Quo: Judge Dismisses Campaign-Contribution Bribery Charges Against Former NY Lieutenant Governor

• Published date: 20 December 2022
• Law Firm: Arnold & Porter
• Author: Mr Murad Hussain, Marcus Asner and Michael Kim Krouse

On December 5, 2022, the US District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed three counts of a five-count indictment against former New York Lieutenant Governor Brian Benjamin, holding that the prosecution's corruption charges failed to satisfy the First Amendment's heightened standard for an alleged quid pro quo involving political contributions. US District Judge J. Paul Oetken's decision was the latest in a recent string of federal rulings that have narrowed the enforcement options available to public corruption prosecutors.

Benjamin resigned from his position in April 2022, immediately after federal prosecutors charged him with diverting $50,000 in state funds to a charitable organization in return for bribes taking the form of campaign contributions. The indictment also accused Benjamin of lying to the New York City Campaign Finance Board about his Comptroller campaign and falsifying his executive appointment questionnaire in order to conceal the alleged bribery. The indictment included three bribery-related corruption charges'federal programs bribery, honest services wire fraud and conspiracy to commit those two offenses'and two charges of obstructing an investigation by falsifying records. Benjamin moved to dismiss the entire indictment.

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