United States v. Menendez

132 F. Supp. 3d 635, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 130331, 2015 WL 5682406
District Court, D. New Jersey·Decided September 28, 2015·No. Cr. No. 15-155·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

OPINION

WALLS, Senior District Judge.

Defendants Robert Menendez and Salo-mon Melgen bring three motions to dismiss this action under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 12(b)(3) based on purported violations of the First Amendment. After oral argument on September 17, 2015, the Court grants in part one of these motions and denies the others.

BACKGROUND

Defendants have been indicted in the District of New Jersey on charges of bribery and related crimes. Indictment (“Indict.”), ECF No. 1. The full procedural'and factual background of this case was discussed at length by the Court in its opinion on Defendants’ motions to dismiss related to the Speech or Debate Clause, ECF No. 117, and need not be repeated here. Among Defendants’ motions to dismiss are (a) a motion arguing that the indictment violates the First Amendment by charging “efforts to influence” as a crime and by failing to allege an explicit quid pro quo, Motion to Dismiss Number 8, ECF No. 55 at 5-8, (b) a motion arguing that certain Counts improperly allege that Dr. Melgen donated to a Super PAC, Motion to Dismiss Number 9, ECF No. 56 at 1, and (c) a motion alleging that erroneous instructions were given to the grand jury, Motion to Dismiss Number 4, ECF No. 51.

LEGAL STANDARD

Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 12(b)(3) allows a defendant to move to dismiss an indictment for a failure to state an offense-. Fed.R.Crim.P. 12(b)(3)(B)(v). An indictment is sufficient “so long as it ‘(1) contains the elements of the offense intended to be charged, (2) sufficiently apprises the defendant of what he must be prepared to meet, and (3) allows the defendant to show with accuracy to what extent he may plead a formal acquittal or conviction in the event of a subsequent prosecution.’ ” United States v. Kemp, 500 F.3d 257, 280 (3d Cir.2007) (quoting United States v. Vitillo, 490 F.3d 314, 321 (3d Cir.2007)). For purposes of a motion to dismiss, the Court must accept as true all factual allegations in the indictment. United States v. Besmajian, 910 F.2d 1153, 1154 (3d Cir.1990). Dismissal under Rule 12(b)(3) “may not be predicated upon [638]*638the insufficiency of the evidence to prove the indictment’s charges.” United States v. DeLaurentis, 230 F.3d 659, 661 (3d Cir.2000).

DISCUSSION

1. The indictment alleges a quid pro quo bribery scheme, which is not protected by the First Amendment.

In their motion to dismiss the indictment for violations of the First Amendment, Defendants contend that the Constitution protects all “efforts to influence and obtain access to elected officials.” Mot. to Dismiss 8 at 3. Defendants’ arguments are primarily drawn from two cases. The first is Citizens United v. FEC, in which the Supreme Court held that a law prohibiting corporations from making independent political expenditures was barred by the First Amendment. 558 U.S. 310, 318-19, 130 S.Ct. 876, 175 L.Ed.2d 753 (2010). The law’s categorical ban on these expenditures was held to be an insuffieiently-narrow means to advance the government’s legitimate interest in preventing quid pro quo corruption. Id. at 361, 130 S.Ct. 876.

The second case relied on by Defendants is McCutcheon v. FEC, in which the Supreme Court held that aggregate limits to campaign donations improperly restricted donors’ First Amendment rights. — U.S. -, 134 S.Ct. 1434, 1462, 188 L.Ed.2d 468 (2014). Base campaign donation limits are a prophylactic measure designed to prevent corruption and the appearance of corruption. Id. at 1458. The aggregate limits that were before the Court in McCutcheon were “then layered on top, ostensibly to prevent circumvention of the base limits,” in what the Court described as a “prophylaxis-upon-prophylaxis approach.” Id. (internal quotations omitted). The Court held that these aggregate limits were not “closely drawn to avoid unnecessary abridgment of associational freedoms.” Id. at 1456 (internal citation omitted).

Defendants here have been charged with engaging in a quid pro quo bribery scheme, not with exceeding limits set by a prophylactic campaign finance regulation. See, e.g. Indict. ¶ 9 (alleging that Defendants conspired to offer Menendez “things of value to influence official acts benefitting Melgen’s personal and business interests.”). Nothing in either Citizens United or McCutcheon implies that the First Amendment prevents prosecution of an alleged conspiracy in which things of value were exchanged for official acts. See McCutcheon, 134 S.Ct. at 1450 (“Spending large sums of money in connection with elections, but not in connection with an effort to control the exercise of an officeholder’s official duties, does not give rise to quid pro quo corruption.”) (emphasis added); Citizens United, 558 U.S. at 360, 130 S.Ct. 876 (“If elected officials succumb to improper influences from independent expenditures ... then surely there is cause for concern.”); Wagner v. FEC, 793 F.3d 1, 6 (D.C.Cir.2015) (“[T]he Supreme Court has repeatedly held that the Government’s interest in preventing quid pro quo corruption or its appearance is sufficiently important to justify the regulation of campaign contributions. In fact, the Court has stated that the same interest may properly be labeled compelling, so that the interest would satisfy even strict scrutiny.” (citing McCutcheon, internal quotations omitted)); see also United States v. McDonnell, 792 F.3d 478, 513 (4th Cir.2015) (Trial court in honest services fraud and extortion case did not err in refusing to instruct jury that “mere ingratiation and access are not corruption” because “[ajffording the talismanic significance Appellant assigns to this language [639]*639[from Citizens United ] ignores its context.”).

Defendants are correct that attempts to influence a public official through speech alone are protected. But the Constitution does not protect an attempt to influence a public official’s acts through improper means, such as the bribery scheme that has been alleged in this case. The government has adequately alleged that Melgen made contributions in an effort to control the exercise of Menendez’s official duties, and the truth of these allegations is a question of fact.

2. A donation to a Super PAC can be a “thing of value” under 18 U.S.C. § 201.

Relying on related arguments, Defendants have separately moved for Counts 15-18 to be dismissed and for the Court to strike all overt acts relating to Melgen’s donations to a Super PAC known as “Majority PAC” from Count 1. Motion to Dismiss 9 at 1-3.

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United States v. Menendez, 132 F. Supp. 3d 635, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 130331, 2015 WL 5682406 (D.N.J. 2015).

132 F. Supp. 3d 635 (United States v. Menendez) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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