Dinesh D’Souza is an Indian Immigrant to America who attended Dartmouth and went on to become a New York Times best selling author, political commentator, and filmmaker of some of the highest grossing political documentary films in the U.S. [1]
You’ve probably heard his name recently, but perhaps not for any of these important reasons. Recently Trump announced that he was pardoning D’Souza for violating campaign finance laws [4]. Many people on the left are outraged by his decision to pardon D’Souza, which is not surprising.
In 2012 D’Souza released his film “2016: Obama’s America”, which looked into the history of Obama and his background and made informed predictions about where America will be if we allow him to lead our country for another term [1]. D’Souza uncovered some unflattering truths about Obama and his intentions. While the movie was not exactly promotional to Obama, it was factual and well informed.
Soon after the release of the movie, D’Souza was hunted down by the FBI for his federal crime of donating over the federal limit to a political campaign [2]. Wendy Long a longtime friend of D’Souza was running for Senate in New York. D’Souza donated $20,000 over the limit by reimbursing two of his associates for their $10,000 donations apiece to the campaign [2]. D’Souza writes about this in an opinion:
“Now it is an open secret that campaign finance limits are regularly transgressed just about every election season. Yet such cases are rarely prosecuted. In general, the government only goes after chronic or repeat offenders, or after those who break the law with corrupt intent, seeking to buy favors or obtain some sort of quid pro quo. No corruption or quid pro quo was even alleged in my case. In fact, candidate Wendy Long didn’t even know that I had contributed $30,000 instead of the allowable limit of $10,000.” [2]
D’Souza goes on to explain how the unprecedented decision to prosecute him for his crime was related to the fact that the FBI had flagged D’Souza in his FBI file as a “political adversary” [2]. The government backed him into a corner by threatening a sentence that could carry up to seven total years in prison [4].
If Dinesh had decided to fight this unprecedented punishment it would clearly have been a one-sided battle and the risk would have been too severe to take a chance on it. D’Souza put it perfectly when he wrote, “The bottom line was that the federal government was threatening me with a sentence so sever it would ruin my life.” [2].
D’Souza voluntarily pled guilty and was sentenced to five years’ probation, eight months of which he spent in a halfway house under supervision [2]. In addition to this demeaning and unnecessary sentence, D’Souza had to pay a $30,000 fine and was subject to psychological counseling [3].
Let us take a moment to evaluate what has happened here: a scholarly, immigrant, American, prize-winning author and filmmaker with an otherwise spotless record as a stand-up citizen of the U.S. was charged more than the maximum sentence for a crime that otherwise goes unprosecuted if not for repeat offenses, which D’Souza did not commit.
D’Souza’s pride and privileges as an American were slashed, his reputation was tarnished, and eight months of his life were taken from him.
On May 31st,President Trump decided to right this wrong and pardon Dinesh D’Souza. After a quick glance at the facts, we can see that this decision was not only just, but overdue.
Many people are upset with this just pardoning and frankly, it doesn’t matter. The same people who are upset that Dinesh is pardoned don’t seem to be too upset with the fact that leftist Rosie O’Donnell, who committed the same crimes on five separate occasions walked away innocent [2]. Or that a Democratic fund-raiser, Sant Singh Chatwal pled guilty to breaking federal campaign finance laws by over $180,000 to three campaigns, one being Hillary Clinton’s, and is escaping jail time [6]. Of course, these felonies do not apply, why? Because the felons are democrats and support the Democratic Party.
Dinesh D’Souza is an intelligent Immigrant American Conservative; he is of the greatest concern to the Democratic Party. Obama thought he could extinguish D’Souza and all his efforts to reveal the truths about the Democratic Party, however, he seemed to invigorate D’Souza’s mission.
D’Souza just announced his next movie release entitled; “Death of a Nation” the movie looks at the political landscape of the Lincoln election as compared to President Trump’s election [1]. D’Souza’s website announces the movie as follows:
“Through stunning historical recreations and a searching examination of fascism and white supremacy, Death of a Nation cuts through progressive big lies to expose hidden history and explosive truths.” [1]
The movie is looking to be another intriguing and eye-opening piece. We need to keep standing up for people like Dinesh D’Souza who are committed to telling the truth. He should be commended for his accomplishments, especially those which he achieved in the face of the full force of a bias government. Dinesh D’Souza is a true patriot. I for one will be going to see his film, and I look forward to the opportunity to learn from such an accomplished man.
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[1] D’Souza, Dinesh. “‘Death of a Nation’ in Theaters Nationwide August 3.” Dinesh D’Souza, D’Souza Media, www.dineshdsouza.com/.
[2] D’Souza, Dinesh. “Dinesh D’Souza: A behind-the-Scenes Look at My Presidential Pardon.” Fox News, FOX News Network, 1 June 2018, www.foxnews.com/opinion/2018/06/01/dinesh-d-souza-behind-scenes-look-at-my-presidential-pardon.html.
[3] Board, The Editorial. “Dinesh D’Souza? Really?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 1 June 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/05/31/opinion/dinesh-dsouza-trump-pardons.html.
[4] Collins, Kaitlan, et al. “Trump Pardons Dinesh D’Souza — and Hints at More Celebrity Pardons.” CNN, Cable News Network, 31 May 2018, www.cnn.com/2018/05/31/politics/trump-dinesh-dsouza-pardon/index.html.
[5] Concha, Joe. “Dinesh D’Souza’s next Film to Draw Comparisons between Trump and Lincoln.” TheHill, The Hill, 11 June 2018, www.thehill.com/homenews/media/391693-dinish-dsouzas-next-film-to-draw-comparisons-between-trump-and-lincoln.
[6] Clifford, Stephanie. “Hotelier Avoids Prison for Violating Campaign Finance Laws.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 21 Dec. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2014/12/19/nyregion/hotelier-avoids-prison-for-violating-campaign-finance-laws.html.
[7] Moore, Mark. “Trump Grants Full Pardon to Dinesh D’Souza.” New York Post, New York Post, 31 May 2018, www.nypost.com/2018/05/31/trump-says-hes-giving-full-pardon-to-dinesh-dsouza/
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