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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Judge Shaves Charge Against Clinton Donors

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (CN) - Two men indicted for reimbursing employees who donated to Hillary Clinton's senatorial and presidential campaigns did not subvert federal campaign-contribution laws that limit corporate donations, a federal judge ruled.

U.S. District Judge James Cacheris granted the men's motion to dismiss one of the seven counts against them, citing the Supreme Court's 2010 ruling for in Citizens United v. FEC, which granted corporations a First Amendment right to make independent expenditures to support political candidates.

Cacheris said the Citizens United ruling "rendered unconstitutional" the limits on corporate contributions to federal candidates.

William Danielczyk Jr. and Eugene Biagi were indicted in February 2011 on seven counts of illegally soliciting and reimbursing contributions to Clinton's campaigns. Danielszyk and Biagi are both executives at Galen Capital Group and Galen Capital Corporation. They allegedly "subverted federal campaign contribution limits by reimbursing their employees' costs of attending two fundraisers Mr. Danielczyk co-hosted for the two campaigns," Cacheris summarized.

In a separate order, the judge also partly granted Danielczyk and Biagi's motion that requires the government to search Department of Justice files "in good faith" for evidence of Clinton campaign communications to the two men regarding donation reimbursements.

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