OPINION AND ORDER Defendant Brian Benjamin served as lieutenant governor of the State of New York until he resigned on April 12, 2022, the same day that the government filed a five-count indictment (the “Indictment”) against him on bribery and related charges. The Indictment alleges that Benjamin solicited and received campaign contributions from New York real estate developer Gerald Migdol and, in exchange for those contributions, allocated $50,000 in state funds to Migdol’s nonprofit organization in Harlem. Benjamin has moved to dismiss the Indictment on the ground that the government has not met the heightened legal standard for bribery and fraud charges in the particular context of a public official’s fundraising for a political campaign. For the reasons that follow, the Court concludes that the Indictment fails to allege an explicit quid pro quo, which is an essential element of the bribery and honest services wire fraud charges brought against Benjamin. As a result, Defendant’s motion to dismiss is granted as to the first three counts. The Indictment is sufficient, however, with respect to the falsification-of-records charges in the fourth and fifth counts, as to which the motion to dismiss is denied. I. Background1 Defendant Brian Benjamin was elected to the New York State Senate in May 2017, representing District 30. (Dkt. No. 18 3.) By early 2019, Benjamin set his sights on a different office: New York City Comptroller. (Id. 6.) In September of that year, Benjamin filed a certification with the New York City Campaign Finance Board (“CFB”) declaring his intent to run for Comptroller and to begin raising money in connection with his Comptroller campaign. (Id.) Benjamin also indicated his intent to participate in the CFB’s matching funds program, which allowed candidates to obtain up to $8 in public funds for every $1 of eligible campaign contributions, up to a particular amount. (Id.) Obtaining small-dollar campaign contributions that were eligible for these matching funds would, according to the government, become a major point of focus for Benjamin during the Comptroller campaign. (Id.) A. Meeting with Migdol Benjamin turned to Gerald Migdol, a real estate developer and District 30 constituent, as a source of those contributions.2 On March 8, 2019, the two met at Migdol’s home. (Id. 9.) Benjamin told Migdol that he intended to run for Comptroller and that he “wanted [Migdol] to procure numerous small contributions for his Comptroller Campaign.” (Id.) Migdol demurred, explaining that he did not have experience bundling contributions in that manner and that his fundraising efforts were focused on his own community non-profit, referenced in the Indictment as Organization-1. (Id.) Further, Migdol stated that he had a “limited” ability to procure contributions for Benjamin’s campaign because any potential campaign donors were likely to be the same donors whom Migdol had solicited, and planned to solicit again, for donations to Organization-1. (Id.) In response, Benjamin stated, “Let me see what I can do.” (Id.) B. Requesting the State Grant Through his position as state senator, Benjamin had the authority to request discretionary funding for organizations within his district. (Id. 10.) In February 2019, Benjamin had submitted an official request to the Senate Majority Leader listing the organizations for which he was requesting funding, which did not include Organization-1. (Id.) An entity for which Benjamin did request funding, Organization-2, was not awarded funding in the final budget allocation. (Id.
11-12.) On May 30, 2019 — nearly three months after the meeting between Migdol and Benjamin at Migdol’s home — Senate officials informed Benjamin and other senators that they had been awarded additional funding that they could allocate to organizations within their district. (Id. 13.) The next day, Benjamin called Migdol and told him that he intended to procure a $50,000 grant for Organization-1. (Id. 14.) The Indictment alleges that Benjamin had not previously made any effort to secure grant funding for Organization-1 and that Benjamin did not attempt to direct the newly allotted funding toward Organization-2. (See id.
