The conservative filmmaker and author Dinesh D’Souza told Business Insider on Friday that he is innocent of the campaign finance fraud charges he got hit with earlier this year.
“I’ve pleaded not guilty,” D’Souza said. “And yes, I’m innocent.”
D’Souza appeared at the Conservative Political Action Conference as part of a panel on conservatives in Hollywood.
In January, federal prosecutors accused D’Souza of participating in a straw donation scheme to funnel money to a Republican Senate candidate who in 2012 lost to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY). At the time, D’Souza’s attorney, Benjamin Brafman, argued that “at worst, this was an act of misguided friendship by D’Souza.”
