U.S. appeals court upholds conviction of Reid fundraiser
(Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court in San Francisco on Monday upheld the conviction of a lobbyist found guilty in 2013 of trying to get around federal campaign contribution limits in order to raise money for Democratic Senator Harry Reid of Nevada. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously rejected F. Harvey Whittemore's arguments to have his conviction thrown out, finding that there was more than sufficient evidence to convict him. Whittemore, a prominent attorney, developer and lobbyist, began serving a two-year prison sentence last August. According to court papers, Whittemore in 2007 distributed a total of $145,000 in increments of $5,000 per person to relatives and employees of a company he chaired. Whittemore requested that his relatives and employees of holding company Wingfield Nevada Group make contributions to Reid’s campaign, the court papers showed. Each recipient made a contribution of $4,600, the maximum that federal law allows. Reid served as Senate majority leader at the time. He is now the Senate minority leader. A jury convicted Whittemore, of Reno, Nevada, of one count of making excessive campaign contributions, one count of making contributions in the name of others, and one count of causing a false statement to be made to the Federal Election Commission, all felony offenses. Whittemore appealed, arguing that the jury was not instructed on the theory of his defense, that individual contribution limits violate free speech rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment and that rulings on evidence in the case were made in error. He also argued that his conviction was based on insufficient evidence. One of Whittemore's lawyers, Dominic Gentile, said his attorneys will seek a review by the U.S. Supreme Court on the issue of the constitutionality of setting limits on individuals' campaign contributions. The case in the 9th Circuit is United States of America vs. F. Harvey Whittemore, 13-10515. (Reporting by Suzannah Gonzales; Editing by Will Dunham)
