Supreme Court Declines to Hear Benjamin's Appeal on Corruption Charges

By Luc Cohen

The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear Democratic former New York state lieutenant governor Brian Benjamin's challenge to corruption charges involving campaign contributions from a developer, allowing the case to proceed.

The justices turned away Benjamin's appeal of a lower court's decision that had revived the charges and found that prosecutors sufficiently detailed his plan to direct state money to a Harlem developer in exchange for campaign donations. Benjamin has not yet gone on trial, and the developer has died.

The Manhattan U.S. Attorney's office charged Benjamin in 2022 with funneling a $50,000 state grant to developer Gerald Migdol in exchange for campaign contributions.

In Benjamin's challenge to the indictment, U.S. District Judge Paul Oetken dismissed the most serious charges—bribery, honest wire fraud, and conspiracy—after finding that prosecutors had merely "implied" an agreement between Benjamin and Migdol. However, the judge did not dismiss two other charges accusing Benjamin of falsifying records.

In March, the Manhattan-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed Oetken's decision, stating that prosecutors had "sufficiently alleged an explicit quid pro quo" between Benjamin and Migdol, who died in February.

Benjamin's lawyers urged the Supreme Court to take up the case, arguing that campaign contributions are protected under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment protections for free speech, and any corruption charge must be based on a clear agreement.

They argued, "Constituents give to candidates they hope will take actions aligned with their interests. Candidates, if elected, take actions that often further the interests of those who helped elect them. This is not bribery; it is democracy."

The U.S. Justice Department defended the indictment, stating that the First Amendment does not protect the exchange of official acts for campaign contributions.

Prosecutors noted that Benjamin directed the $50,000 grant in June 2019 to Migdol's charity when he was a state senator representing the area and that this was in exchange for Migdol's contributions to Benjamin’s campaigns.

Recent Supreme Court rulings have made it harder for federal prosecutors to bring corruption cases against government officials. In June, the Court ruled it was not a crime for a state or local official to accept gratuities for official actions, siding with an Indiana city's mayor.

Additionally, in 2023, the Supreme Court overturned the conviction of a former aide to Governor Andrew Cuomo, limiting the ability to charge individuals close to government officials with bribery.

Prosecutors acknowledged that Migdol's death would impact Benjamin's trial since he was expected to be a key witness but stated they have no plans to abandon the charges.