Conservative pundit Dinesh D'Souza was indicted on Thursday for making illegal campaign donations, the Washington Post reported.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced the charges in a statement. D'Souza is expected for arraignment on Friday in a federal district court in Manhattan.
D'Souza, current conservative commenator and director of "2016: Obama's America," has not commented on the charges. His lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, released a statement to reporters calling the donation "at most" an "act of misguided friendship."
"Mr. D'Souza did not act with any corrupt or criminal intent whatsoever," Brafman said in the statement. "He and the candidate have been friends since their college days, and at worst, this was a misguided act of friendship by D'Souza ... It is important to note that the indictment does not allege a corrupt relationship between D'Souza and the candidate."
Though the indictment does not specify the candidate whom D'Souza donated to, the Washington Post reported it to be Wendy Long (R), who lost to incumbent Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in 2012.
D'Souza attended Dartmouth with Long and is listed as a co-host for one of her campaign fundraisers.
Federal authorities discovered the alleged fraud after performing routine reviews of campaign filing with the FEC, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
"This office and the FBI take a zero tolerance approach to corruption of the electoral process," Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement. "If, as alleged, the defendant directed others to make contributions to a Senate campaign and reimbursed them, that is a serious violation of federal campaign laws."
The criminal charges against D'Souza allege that he illegally reimbursed people who donated $20,000 to an unnamed Senate campaign, though campaign contributions to federal candidates are limited to $2,500 from individuals.
D'Souza, who currently lives in San Diego, was the former president of King's College in New York before being forced to step down after an extramarital affair. In a book he wrote on President Obama, he suggests that Obama is motivated by the "inherited rage" of his absent father.
