Supreme Court bats away bribery appeal from former New York Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin

By John Fritze, CNN

(CNN) — The Supreme Court declined Monday to review federal bribery charges against former New York Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin, a Democrat who resigned two years ago after prosecutors said he sought campaign contributions in exchange for a state grant.

Benjamin, a former state lawmaker, told the high court that prosecutors embarked on an “extreme” overreach by connecting his request to a local real estate developer for campaign cash with his decision to secure a $50,000 state grant for that developer’s nonprofit group.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul appointed Benjamin to the post when she took over the state’s top job from Andrew Cuomo following his resignation in 2021. Benjamin resigned in 2022 after being arrested and indicted on the bribery charges.

His appeal arrived at the Supreme Court at a time when it has been significantly weakening the ability of federal prosecutors to bring charges under anti-corruption laws.

The court earlier this year sided with a former mayor in Indiana convicted of accepting $13,000 from a trucking company weeks after it was awarded a contract. In that case, the court’s six conservative justices ruled federal bribery prohibitions don’t apply to “gratuities.”

“Time and again, this court has intervened when government overreach threatens to chill political activity that is core to our democracy and protected by the First Amendment,” Benjamin’s lawyers told the high court. “This case presents an extreme example of that overreach.”

Benjamin’s legal argument turned on the notion that prosecutors hadn’t established an explicit quid pro quo, which he argued was required because of First Amendment protections involved in campaign finances. The Justice Department argued that position misread the court’s precedents and that, procedurally, Benjamin had brought the case too soon in his trial.

“Under a standard that requires not just a quid pro quo, but one that is verbally spelled out, all but the most reckless public officials will be able to avoid criminal liability for exchanging official action for campaign contributions,” the government argued.

The charges stem from Benjamin’s decision in 2019 to run for New York City comptroller. Benjamin, prosecutors said, turned to a real estate developer for help raising money. When the developer said he had little experience raising political cash, and that he would have to turn to the same contributors he solicited for his nonprofit organization, Benjamin responded by saying, “Let me see what I can do,” according to court records.

Months later, Benjamin learned that as a state senator he could direct up to $50,000 in state funds to nonprofit organizations in his district, and he chose to direct that grant to the developer, the Justice Department said. Soon after, the developer cut Benjamin three checks for his campaign totaling $25,000.

A federal district court dismissed the bribery and other charges, but the New York-based 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals sided with prosecutors and sent Benjamin’s case back for trial.

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