Attorneys for embattled state Sen. Lawrence M. Farnese Jr. (D) came out swinging last week, urging a federal judge to dismiss his indictment for bribery and other alleged crimes.
Farnese is accused of diverting $6,000 in campaign funds to Ellen Chapman, to secure her support for his 2011 election as Democratic leader of the Eighth Ward.
The Eighth Ward is a political subdivision, largely in Center City west of Broad. It serves as a conduit to party leadership, and it’s a source of information during campaigns and elections. Chapman was an Eighth Ward committee person at the time of Farnese’s alleged donation to her daughter’s college fund.
Farnese and Chapman are accused of violating state and federal laws relating to bribery, fraud and conspiracy.
But in Oct. 21 defense briefs, attorneys for both defendants urged U.S. District Judge Cynthia M. Rufe to dismiss their indictments as meritless.
According to Farnese’s brief, he has a right to spend his campaign funds as he sees fit, within reason. Securing his election as ward leader helped him win re-election as a state senator. Thus, his donation to Chapman was reasonable and legal.
“This case, as described in the indictment, involves nothing more than routine internal party affairs,” attorneys stated in Farnese’s brief. “The federal government shouldn’t be deciding what’s in the best interest of the ward.”
Moreover, Farnese’s donation to Chapman was fully compliant with state laws, the attorneys wrote: “Pennsylvania has its own system for regulating campaign finance law, which not only fully regulates the type of activity here, but permits it.”
The brief goes on to accuse the federal government of overstepping its bounds.
“Federal law must not be construed to criminalize local political activity that is authorized by state law,” the attorneys wrote. “Federal intervention [in this case] is unacceptable overreaching and violates established principles of federalism.”
Chapman echoed Farnese’s position, stating in a brief: “[T]he federal government has no business meddling in private parties’ internal affairs.”
Additionally, Chapman contends that the government failed to “create a reasonable probability” that she engaged in any criminal wrongdoing.
Both Farnese and Chapman stated that the government hasn’t produced evidence indicating Eighth Ward members felt cheated or deprived due to Farnese’s donation to Chapman. “[T]he court should reject the government’s effort to impose its own sense of morality upon the inner workings of local ward politics,” attorneys for Farnese stated.
Mark B. Sheppard, an attorney for Farnese, issued this statement: “The filing is the first opportunity Sen. Farnese has had to detail to the court why the prosecution’s case is not only a novel reading of the law — it is an incorrect one. As there is no allegation government money was involved, or that Sen. Farnese in any way misused his office or title or that he misled anyone about the purpose of the donation, the prosecutors’ case seeks to extend the reach of prosecutors well beyond accepted constitutional grounds and into areas of purely local party organizational politics. We believe the case should be dismissed with prejudice, immediately. And if for some reason it is not, we remain confident Sen. Farnese will be completely exonerated.”
Peter Carr, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Justice, declined to comment. Attorneys for Chapman couldn’t be reached for comment.
Farnese has been a strong advocate for LGBT rights. In 2014, he sent a letter to District Attorney Seth Williams and then-Attorney General Kathleen Kane, urging a new probe of the Nizah Morris incident. He’s also co-prime sponsor of the Senate version of the Pennsylvania Fairness Act, which would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.