In Shakespeare's King Henry V, the king must decide the fate of a drunken soldier who berated him in public: lèse-majesté, a crime technically punishable by death. Henry decides to pardon him despite the sanctimonious pleas of three traitors to execute him, or at least punish him severely. The King warns and counsels them,

If little faults, proceeding on distemper,
Shall not be wink'd at, how shall we stretch our eye
When capital crimes, chew'd, swallow'd and digested,
Appear before us?

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, an Obama appointee, should have pondered King Henry's advice before he demanded jail time for conservative author Dinesh D'Souza. Campaign finance laws that do not apply to everybody should apply to nobody, while laws that apply to some must apply to all. D'Souza's felony conviction makes it necessary to bring up Barack Obama's own participation in equally illegal fundraising practices during his 2007 and 2008 campaigns.

"Obama's Illegal Lottery" shows that the Obama campaign raised money through interstate gambling, which must have all three of the following characteristics to be illegal:

1. Payment of consideration (something of value)
2. An element of chance
3. A prize

A YouTube video by Barack Obama himself proves unequivocally that he not only knew about, but participated in, such a fundraising scheme. He says very clearly that four people who donate money (payment of consideration) will be selected (element of chance) to be flown in to have dinner with him, at his expense (prize). WorldNet Daily reported that the Obama camp modified these promotions to allow people to enter without donating money, but only after complaints from at least one law enforcement agency.

Here are the key parts of an E-mail I received from the Obama campaign in 2007. My E-mail address has been removed to prevent harvesting by spammers. All three elements of a lottery are present.

Dear Bill,

A couple of weeks ago I sat down to dinner with four supporters like you.

Christina, Haile, Margaret, and Michael each made a small online donation, and we flew them across the country for some good food and good conversation.

What I enjoyed most about this dinner was the opportunity to listen to the stories and concerns of ordinary Americans in a relaxed environment. Out on the campaign trail, there isn't always time for that kind of interaction.

Last week we started planning our second dinner, and on Friday evening at 6:42 pm, a woman named Dorothy Unruh of Lakewood, Colorado made a donation.

I'm pleased to announce that Dorothy will be one of my guests for the second dinner. You could join us if you make a small donation before 11:59 pm tonight, July 31st:

I'm looking forward to having dinner with Dorothy, but there are still three seats left at the table. Will you be in one of them?

…If you make a donation by 11:59 pm tonight, Tuesday, July 31st, you could join us for dinner very soon:

https://donate.barackobama.com/dinner

We'll pay for your trip and the meal -- all you need to bring is your story and your ideas about how to make this a better country for all Americans.
 

"Dinner with Barack:" Dishonest as Well as Illegal

In July 2007, July 27 was a Friday. In other words, the Obama campaign's lottery selected at least one winner more than four days before it closed to entries. This reduced the subsequent number of opportunities to win from four to three, which means the campaign cheated its own supporters. This is something that every single person who participated in this lottery needs to remember this November.

D'Souza's Conviction Requires Congress to Investigate Obama Campaign

When King Henry exposes the traitors' conspiracy with the French to murder him, as opposed to merely display public contempt for him, they plead for clemency, but to no avail:

The mercy that was quick in us but late,
By your own counsel is suppress'd and kill'd:
You must not dare, for shame, to talk of mercy;
For your own reasons turn into your bosoms,
As dogs upon their masters, worrying you.

Now that an Obama-appointed Federal prosecutor has reopened the issue of illegal campaign fundraising by branding a conservative author with a felony record, Congress needs to revisit the president's own fundraising practices to ensure that campaign finance laws that apply to some, apply to all.

William A. Levinson, P.E. is the author of several books on business management including content on organizational psychology, as well as manufacturing productivity and quality.