Dinesh D'Souza indicted in campaign finance case

Conservative author and philosopher Dinesh D'Souza was indicted yesterday (January 23) for violating federal campaign-finance laws by using straw donors to funnel money to a United States Senate candidate.

The indictment did not name the candidate, but the Washington Post and MSNBC both say it was Republican Wendy Long, who lost overwhelmingly in 2012 to New York Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand.

D'Souza is expected to be arraigned today in federal district court in Manhattan.

D'Souza, who has written more than a dozen books on religion and politics, lives in San Diego County. One of his books is The Roots of Obama's Rage. He reportedly went to Dartmouth with Long.

D'Souza's lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, released a statement saying that D'Souza's efforts to help a friend running for the Senate in 2012 was "at most" an "act of misguided friendship," according to the Post.