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Dinesh D'Souza indicted for campaign finance fraud

Dinesh D’Souza, the conservative author and political commentator, was arrested and indicted on charges of campaign finance fraud on Thursday.

In a statement, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara's office said that D'Souza made "illegal contributions to a United States Senate campaign in the names of others" and "[caused] false statements to be made to the Federal Election Commission in connection with those contributions.”

The U.S. Senate campaign in question is that of Wendy Long, who ran on the Republican and Conservative party tickets against New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in the 2012 election. Long won just 27 percent of the vote.

(Also on POLITICO: D'Souza on Oscar snub: 'A pity')

The indictment, which can be viewed here, alleges that D'Souza made or caused more than $10,000 worth of campaign contributions under the names of others. It also states that he willfully and knowingly submitted false reports about the amounts and sources of those contributions.

D'Souza, a former adviser to President Reagan, is the author of several conservative books and the creator of a highly controversial film about President Obama, "2016: Obama's America," which was released during the 2012 election. He was formerly president of New York City's King's College.

Attorney Bharara's office said the Indictment was "the result of a routine review by the FBI of campaign filings with the FEC by various candidates after the 2012 election for United States Senator in New York."

UPDATE (6:55 p.m.): Benjamin Brafman, an attorney for D'Souza, tells The Hollywood Reporter that his client "did not act with any corrupt or criminal intent whatsoever ... at worst this was an act of misguided friendship by D'Souza."

Meanwhile, conservative aggregator Matt Drudge stokes the coals of conspiracy theory.