Rosie O’Donnell’s Excuse for Illegal Campaign Contributions Collapses

Back in December, Rosie O’Donnell thought it would be a great idea to publicly declare on Twitter that she’d be willing to bribe politicians to vote against Trump’s tax plan (who would otherwise vote in favor). She specifically was targeting Republicans Jeff Flake and Susan Collins, who she promised $2 million each if they voted  “NO NO I WILL NOT KILL AMERICANS FOR THE SUOER (sic) RICH.”

A number of her fans questioned whether or not her idea would actually work (it didn’t), surprisingly few questioned the legality of it.

The General Federal Bribery Statute punishes a number of acts of bribery, including “Any public official influencing the performance of any official act in violation of official duty,” and “Any person offering bribery for the performance of a public duty.” As for the consequences; “the punishment prescribed by the statue is a fine of an amount not more than three times the monetary equivalent of the thing of value, or imprisonment for not more than fifteen years, or both.”

Rosie was merely expressing an intent to commit bribery, hence the lack of charges against her, but had she followed through with the promise, she’d likely find herself in prison right now.

When one came that close to a brush with the law you’d think they wouldn’t commit another political crime just months later, but such is the case of Rosie, whom the New York Post reported early this week broke Federal Election Commission rules by donating more than the maximum personal amount allowed per election ($2,700) to “at least five Democratic federal candidates.” While Rosie told the post that there was “nothing nefarious” because she “was not choosing to over donate,” that excuse doesn’t hold up.

According to the Conservative Tribune:

O’Donnell used four different names and five different addresses, which likely made it difficult to track and raises the specter of whether she was trying to conceal the over-donations.

Indeed, it seems ludicrous that O’Donnell, a longtime Democrat donor who has already given $90,000 in donations during the 2017-2018 cycle, would be unaware of federal donation limits.

But despite that, it’s unlikely she’ll face any real consequences.

“Donors are rarely fined for excess contributions and then only if they are hiding the donations from the recipients,” Jan Witold Baran, a Washington, D.C., campaign finance lawyer, told the Post.

“Campaigns generally are not penalized for isolated contributions over a limit. However, multiple excessive donations may lead to an investigation … Fines could result in such cases.”

Conservative pundit Dinesh D’Souza pleaded guilty in federal court to using a “straw donor” to make campaign contributions on his behalf to exceed contribution limits in 2014. He was sentenced to 8 months in a halfway house, five years probation, and a $30,000 fine.

Why the double standard?

Do you think Rosie should face charges for her illegal campaign contributions? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!