Conservative pundit Dinesh D'Souza says in a new interview that spending time in a confinement center after his felony conviction last year is giving him a chance to "clear my head."
Speaking with Vanity Fair, which followed D'Souza around for a day in southern California, he talked about his life
as a convicted felon after being sentenced to eight months in a community confinement center in San Diego, five years probation, and a $30,000 fine for breaking campaign finance laws.
"Considering that I'm spending my nights in a confinement center, you can say that I've had the experience of 'The Empire Strikes Back,'" said D'Souza, who spends every night in a place similar to a halfway house but is able to live his life during the day.
"The really big criminals are at large. In fact, the really big criminals are running things.
"Ironically, putting me into confinement has given me a chance to clear my head, to think, and to greatly expand my horizons once I get out."
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During the interview, D'Souza is shown leaving his nighttime residence through a door that leads to an alley before walking around the streets with the Vanity Fair crew, posing for photos for the May issue of the magazine.
D'Souza then drives to his home, where he shaves, showers, and ditches his sweatpants and sweatshirt for a suit. Then he appears to attend a signing for one of his books,
"America: Imagine a World Without Her."
He ends his day walking the beach before presumably driving back to the confinement center to sleep.
Vanity Fair also relayed a story D'Souza told the magazine about his first night in the confinement center, which depicts the first interaction he had with his "400-pound" bunkmate.
"He goes, 'Hey, man, what are you in for?' I go, 'Campaign-finance violation.' He goes, 'What the [expletive deleted] does that mean?' I go, 'Well, my friend was running for the Senate, and I gave her too much money. I raised money for her in the wrong way,'" D'Souza said.
"So he goes, 'S**t! Can you raise money for me?' I go, 'No.' Then there was the mandatory rape class, which was about 'establishing that all of us have a right not to be raped.' Very reassuring."
D'Souza has stayed in the news despite his confinement, often appearing on TV shows — including
"The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV — to give his opinion on current events.
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