Supreme Court denies former top KY Dem’s request to overturn campaign finance conviction
The United States Supreme Court has denied Jerry Lundergan’s request to overturn his conviction for illegally funneling $200,000 to his daughter’s 2014 political campaign.
The former Kentucky Democratic Party chair was convicted in 2018 for the contributions made through a corporation to daughter Alison Lundergan Grimes in her 2014 challenge against Sen. Mitch McConnell. Grimes, a Democrat, was a two-term secretary of state serving from 2012 to 2020.
Lundergan’s petition argued that the federal ban on corporate contributions is unconstitutional when applied to contributions from a close family member
The former state Democratic leader lost his case in the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The Supreme Court denied the petition in a one sentence letter to the clerk of the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals with no explanation as to why – common practice for the nation’s high court in such cases.
Lundergan’s legal team included veteran Supreme Court attorney Kannon Shanmugam, who has argued more than 30 cases before the Supreme Court and whose name has been floated for openings on the nation’s highest court. Frankfort attorney J. Guthrie True, longtime lawyer for Lundergan, was the only Kentucky attorney on the case.
Observers said that the petition, if accepted, had the potential to loosen legal restrictions on campaign finance laws nationwide. Rick Hasen, professor and Co-Director of the Fair Elections and Free Speech Center at the University of California, Irvine, called it “catnip for some of the more anti-regulatory justices.”
Lundergan reported to the federal prison camp in Ashland Nov. 10 of last year after the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld his conviction.
True filed a motion in January seeking compassionate release for Lundergan based on his health problems and the threat of contracting COVID-19 in prison. Several factors, including his age, obesity and respiratory illnesses make Lundergan particularly vulnerable to COVID-19, the motion said.
Lundergan has a history of colon cancer, mental illness and several other ailments, according to the motion. He also suffered a stroke last August. Doctors concluded it was his second stroke, with the first one going undetected, the motion said.
True also pointed to Lundergan’s record of charitable giving and community service. The motion said Lundergan has sponsored the Salvation Army’s Thanksgiving dinner in Lexington for more than 30 years; donated time and resources to provide Christmas dinner for University of Kentucky men’s basketball Coach John Calipari’s foundation, which serves underprivileged elementary-school children; and made a “significant” contribution to the Red Cross after the deadly tornadoes in Western Kentucky last December, after he’d already gone to prison.
True asked U.S. District Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove to release Lundergan to home confinement for the rest of his sentence.
Van Tatenhove entered an order on the request on Feb. 28, but it is sealed, so the ruling is not publicly available.
The federal Bureau of Prisons continues to list Lundergan as an inmate at the Ashland prison, with a scheduled release date of May 26, 2023.
True has yet to respond to a request for comment from the Herald-Leader about next steps, if there are any, in Lundergan’s case.
Herald-Leader reporter Bill Estep contributed to this report.
This story was originally published May 4, 2022 at 11:21 AM.