Campaign Contributions as Crimes: Drawing the Line Between Politics and Corruption

In its 1991 decision in McCormick v. United States, the Supreme Court held that the receipt of a campaign contribution does not amount to a federal crime unless the contribution is part of an “explicit” quid pro quo. Applying the standard has posed challenges, and scholars contend that many federal appellate courts have transfigured the requirement beyond recognition. P.G. Sittenfeld’s conviction for federal bribery and extortion crimes demonstrates the challenge. A former Cincinnati City Council member, he was approached by undercover agents posing as donors who offered him donations in exchange for promising to vote for a particular property development. Sittenfeld refused, stating that would be illegal; but he promised that he was always “super pro-development” and that he had  “voted in favor of every single development deal that’s ever been put in front of me.” He was indicted and convicted of bribery and extortion, and in February, the 6th Circuit issued a 2-1 decision upholding his conviction. All three judges, in separate opinions, suggested the Supreme Court should consider revisiting and clarifying McCormick v. United States to clarify the line between lawful campaign contributions and an illegal bribe. Sittenfeld’s petition for certiorari is supported by a broad set of amici across the political spectrum. 

P.G. Sittenfeld is a writer based in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he lives with his wife, Sarah, an oncologist, and their three young sons. Sittenfeld’s writing has appeared in Esquire, America Magazine, The New York Times, Outside Magazine, The Princeton Alumni Weekly, Slate, and Cincinnati Magazine. Sittenfeld also serves as a storytelling collaborator on narrative projects for CEOs, lawyers, doctors, startup founders, and school administrators. He is a graduate of Princeton University and Oxford University in England, where he was a Marshall Scholar.  Previously, Sittenfeld served for nearly a decade on Cincinnati’s City Council, where he became the city’s highest vote-getter. He was considered a likely candidate to serve as the city’s next and youngest-ever mayor when he was prosecuted on public corruption charges in 2020, stemming from an FBI sting operation later likened in court to a “prosecutorial Truman Show.” 

Caleb Burns is a partner at Wiley Rein LLP and an expert witness on Sittenfeld’s trial team. He focuses on advising participants in the political process on compliance with all aspects of political law, including campaign finance, government ethics, and lobbying. His clients include Fortune 50 corporations, trade associations and other business organizations, non-profit and tax exempt 501(c) advocacy organizations, federal officeholders, political candidates and committees, and private individuals. He has particular experience with the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA), the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA), the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), as well as analogous state and local laws regulating campaign finance, government ethics, and lobbying. Caleb frequently represents clients subject to these laws in matters before the Federal Election Commission (FEC), other federal and state administrative agencies, and in federal and state courts.

Floyd Abrams is the founder of the Abrams Institute for Freedom of Expression at the Information Society Project at Yale Law School and partner in the law firm Cahill, Gordon & Reindel in New York where he practices in the areas of intellectual property, litigation and media. He has a national trial and appellate practice and has argued frequently in front of the Supreme Court. A graduate of Yale Law School and Cornell University, Mr. Abrams is also a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.