Federal Election Commission v. James Toledano

Any person who receives a contribution in excess of $50 for a political committee must forward the contribution and the donor’s information to the committee’s treasurer “no later than 10 days after receiving the contribution.” 2 U.S.C. § 432(b)(2)(B). We plumb the deep mysteries of this language to figure out what it could possibly mean.

I

James Toledano, a lawyer admitted to practice in California, was chairman of the Orange County Democratic Party during the 1996 primary election. About three weeks before the primary, he received a $10,000 contribution check at his law office. The check was made out to the “Democratic Party of Orange County” by Debra and Paul LaPrade, sister and brother-in-law of James Prince, one of four candidates seeking the party’s nomination for California’s 46th Congressional District. Unbeknownst to the party’s treasurer or anyone else, Toledano took the check to a bank, opened a new account in the name of “Democratic Party of Orange County II (Federal)” and deposited the money. At some point after the check was written, the roman numeral “II” was mysteriously added to the payee line to match the name of the account. Instead of providing the party’s…