Corrected Reprint 2/3/03

FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION,  No. 01-56762

Plaintiff-Appellee, D.C. No.

v. CV-00-06526-GAF 

JAMES TOLEDANO, ORDER AND

Defendant-Appellant. AMENDED

OPINION 

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Central District of California

Gary A. Feess, District Judge, Presiding

Argued July 9, 2002

Submitted September 2, 2002—Pasadena, California

Filed November 7, 2002

Amended Opinion Filed January 30, 2003

Before: Alex Kozinski and Ferdinand F. Fernandez,

Circuit Judges, and Samuel P. King,* District Judge.

Opinion by Judge Kozinski

*The Honorable Samuel P. King, Senior United States District Judge

for the District of Hawaii, sitting by designation 

1397
COUNSEL

James Toledano, pro se, Santa Ana, California, for the

defendant-appellant. 

Vivien Clair, Attorney, Federal Election Commission, Washington, D.C., argued for the plaintiff-appellee. Lawrence H.

Norton, General Counsel, Federal Election Commission,

Washington, D.C., and Richard B. Bader, Associate General

Counsel, Federal Election Commission, Washington, D.C.,

joined her on the brief. 

ORDER

The opinion, filed November 7, 2002, is amended as follows (the page and line references are to the slip opinion):

1400 FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION v. TOLEDANO
Page 4, Line 28 to Replace “after receiving such contribuPage 5, Line 1: tion.” 2 U.S.C. § 432(b)(1)” with “after

receiving the contribution.” 2 U.S.C.

§ 432(b)(2)(B)” 

Page 8, Lines 10- Replace “shall, no later than 10 days

16: after receiving such contribution, forward to the treasurer such contribution,

and if the amount of the contribution is

in excess of $50 the name and address

of the person making the contribution

and the date of receipt. 2 U.S.C.

§ 432(b)(1)” with “shall— . . . if the

amount of the contribution is in excess

of $50, forward to the treasurer such

contribution, the name and address of

the person making the contribution,

and the date of receipt of the contribution, no later than 10 days after receiving the contribution. 2 U.S.C.

§ 432(b)(2)(B)” 

Page 11, Note 3, Replace “his declaration” with “her

Lines 7-8: declaration” 

Page 14, Lines 10- Replace “Cavanaugh v. U.S. Dist.

11: Court (In re Cavanaugh), ___ F.3d

___, ___ (9th Cir. 2002)” with “Cavanaugh v. U.S. Dist. Court (In re Cavanaugh), 306 F.3d 726, 731-32 (9th Cir.

2002)” 

With these corrections, the petition for rehearing is denied

and the petition for rehearing en banc is rejected. Fed. R. App.

P. 35, 40. 

A copy of the amended opinion is attached to this order.

FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION v. TOLEDANO 1401
OPINION

KOZINSKI, Circuit Judge: 

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 contact information for the

new account, Toledano listed his law office’s address and

telephone number, and gave himself sole signatory authority.

That evening, Toledano attended the party’s executive

committee meeting, where the treasurer and other board members were present. Toledano said nothing about the contribution, even though he reported various other matters to the

board, and even though the $10,000 check was hardly routine.

It was, in fact, twenty-five times the next-largest donation to

the party that year. Days and weeks passed—to say nothing

1402 FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION v. TOLEDANO
of the ten-day statutory deadline—yet the treasurer remained

in the dark. Toledano’s failure to forward the check and the

donors’ information to the treasurer was no oversight. Toledano later admitted that he intentionally kept the contribution

secret because he knew that, if he told anyone, his plan for the

money would be thwarted. 

And a plan he did have. Money in hand, he secretly

arranged with James Prince’s campaign staff—Prince for

Congress—to print and mail pamphlets, complete with

Prince’s photograph, notifying voters of Prince’s endorsement

by the Democratic Party.1 The pamphlets consumed all the

funds in the undisclosed account, plus $277.87 from Toledano’s own pocket. 

Prince lost the primary, but with publicity comes scrutiny.

When the other members of the party’s executive committee

found out about the mailings, they reported Toledano’s

manipulations to the press. The Federal Election Commission

(FEC) began an investigation. It discovered that sister Debra

and brother-in law Paul LaPrade had already contributed the

maximum allowable amount to Prince’s election campaign

before they made their latest donation. The LaPrades admitted

to the FEC that the $10,000 check, although ostensibly made

to the Orange County Democratic Party, was actually earmarked for Prince’s election pamphlets and designed to evade

1The pamphlet actually features two candidates, James Prince and Lou

Correa, a candidate for the 69th State Assembly District. No one disputes,

however, that the pamphlet was primarily intended to promote Prince’s

candidacy. On the pamphlet, Prince’s endorsement by the party stands out

in large red font whereas Correa’s is only in a modest print. There is a portrait of Prince, but none of Correa. Inclusion of Correa in the pamphlet is

consistent with advice Toledano is said to have given Prince to the effect

that “it would be legal for people to contribute to the Orange County Party

[for the purpose of promoting Prince’s candidacy] even if they had already

given [Prince’s] campaign the maximum permissible contribution, so long

as the slate-mailer mentioned a sufficient number of candidates.” Declaration of Harvey Prince (James Prince’s father) at 2-3. 

FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION v. TOLEDANO 1403
campaign contribution limits, in violation of 2 U.S.C.

§ 441a(a)(1)(A) (“No person shall make contributions to any

candidate and his authorized political committees with respect

to any election for Federal office which, in the aggregate,

exceed $1,000.”). See 11 C.F.R. § 110.1(h)(2) (providing that

a contributor may not evade limits on how much he can

donate to a candidate’s campaign by giving money to a political committee “with the knowledge that a substantial portion

will be contributed to, or expended on behalf of, that candidate for the same election”). The LaPrades and Prince for

Congress soon conceded wrongdoing and paid a hefty fine.

But not Toledano. 

The FEC brought this enforcement action in federal district

court seeking civil penalties and other relief against Toledano

for violating the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA).

Representing himself below and on appeal, Toledano admits

that he spoke to Debra LaPrade about the contribution and

told her to send the check to his law office rather than to that

of the Democratic Party; that he didn’t tell anyone from the

party about the contribution; and that he spent all the money

on Prince’s campaign. He agrees that he neglected to send the

contribution or the donors’ information to the treasurer within

ten days—or ever. See 2 U.S.C. § 432(b). Still, Toledano

insists that he didn’t violate the law and that the district court

erred in granting summary judgment against him. 

Toledano maintains that 2 U.S.C. § 432(b), despite its mandatory and straightforward language, cannot mean what it

says. He contends that there are disputed issues of material

fact that, if decided in his favor, would excuse his failure to

comply with the statutory requirement. Toledano also marshals a pastiche of other arguments—judicial estoppel, statute

of limitations, and the district court’s abuse of its broad remedial discretion—to challenge the district court’s decision. 

1404 FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION v. TOLEDANO
II

Toledano stated under oath: “I received the [$10,000]

check[.] I took it to Marine National Bank, . . . and opened

a new account with it. . . . I listed myself as the signatory . . . .

I used my office address on the account . . . .” He did all these

things “without consulting the Executive Committee or the

Treasurer” and kept his actions under wraps past the statutory

ten-day deadline because “I had formed the habit of doing

everything . . . without notifying the Executive Committee

because I knew that whatever I wanted would be voted down

for no other reason than spite and vindictiveness.”

2

[1] It is undisputed, therefore, that Toledano (1) received a

contribution, (2) whose amount exceeded $50, and (3) failed

to present the contribution or the donors’ names and addresses

to the treasurer within ten days. The relevant statutory provision states as follows: 

Every person who receives a contribution for a political committee which is not an authorized committee

shall—. . . if the amount of the contribution is in

excess of $50, forward to the treasurer such contribution, the name and address of the person making

the contribution, and the date of receipt of the contribution, no later than 10 days after receiving the contribution. 

2 U.S.C. § 432(b)(2)(B) (emphasis added). On its face, Toledano’s conduct appears to be a clear violation of the statutory

requirement. But Toledano denies he did anything wrong

because “Congress did not and could not have intended such

a mechanistic view of the statute.” 

2Toledano explains why the other members of the executive committee

were so opposed to him: “I was operating in the best interests of the Democratic Party as I saw it. They were operating in furtherance of their own

personal agenda.” Deposition of James Toledano at 80. 

FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION v. TOLEDANO 1405
Toledano derisively calls the FEC’s interpretation of the

statute the “fingerprint rule.” It simply cannot be, he asserts,

that “literally hundreds of thousands of campaign contribution

checks, representing literally millions of dollars,” must pass

through the treasurer’s own hands and be impressed with the

treasurer’s fingerprints. The treasurer must be permitted to

have agents who assist him, and he, Toledano, was one such

agent. As chair of the party, he was entitled to accept and

deposit contribution checks. 

Toledano does not claim that the treasurer actually authorized him to act on the treasurer’s behalf, or that the party’s

bylaws gave the chair such authority; Toledano readily admits

that his actions violated the bylaws. See Supplemental Declaration of James Toledano at 9-10. Toledano nevertheless

maintains he had de facto authority to act as treasurer because

he was convinced that the real treasurer was incompetent and

failed to discharge his duties responsibly. 

According to Toledano’s sworn declaration and deposition,

“the painful reality [was that] the Treasurer of the Orange

County Democratic Party . . . was unreachable for days on

end,” “getting harder and harder to find,” and becoming “less

and less responsible.” “As a result, the last thing that I would

ever have done would be to give [the treasurer] a check the

proceeds of which needed to be spent in a hurry.” The executive committee, moreover, was paralyzed by continuing hostilities; the members were “virulent and vicious.” Therefore,

Toledano explains, “[i]t became totally obvious to me that I

would get nothing done if I tried to work with the [committee].” “I could have proposed God, motherhood and apple pie,

and it would have been voted down . . . . As a result of that,

I never even thought about telling [the committee].” 

[2] We agree with Toledano that the statute does not

impose a mechanistic “fingerprint rule.” The treasurer is

authorized to employ designated agents to assist him. See 2

U.S.C. § 432(a) (requiring the “authorization of the treasurer

1406 FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION v. TOLEDANO
or his or her designated agent” (emphasis added)); 11 C.F.R.

§ 102.9 (“The treasurer of a political committee or an agent

authorized by the treasurer to receive contributions and make

expenditures shall fulfill [the listed] recordkeeping duties

. . . .” (emphasis added)). But, as noted, Toledano did not

have actual authority to act for the treasurer, and the party’s

bylaws gave him no authority to receive and spend money

without the approval of the executive committee. Toledano

was therefore not a designated agent of the treasurer and

could not exercise the treasurer’s authority under the statute

or the regulations. 

[3] Toledano’s “de facto treasurer” argument fares no better. The statute makes no provision for agents who lack

proper delegation of authority, even if the treasurer goes

AWOL. Quite the contrary, “[n]o contribution or expenditure

shall be accepted or made by or on behalf of a political committee during any period in which the office of treasurer is

vacant.” 2 U.S.C. § 432(a). A fortiori, when there is a treasurer, no contribution or expenditure may bypass him or his

designated agents. We cannot undo the plain language of the

statute to achieve what Toledano views as the better result,

even if we were inclined to do so, which we are not. 

Assuming, as Toledano alleges, that the party’s executive

committee was plagued by paralysis, it makes not an iota of

difference under FECA. The statute contains no exception for

“internal breakdown.” Either the members work out their differences and follow the statutory requirements, or the committee cannot accept contributions or make campaign

expenditures at all. See 2 U.S.C. § 432(a). 

Toledano resists this obvious conclusion by pointing to his

own experience and the rough-and-tumble world of Orange

County political campaigning: “In acting on my own,” Toledano explains, “I had plenty of history on my side.” Toledano

claims that “it was not uncommon nor wrong for the Chair of

the Party to act independently of the Executive Committee

FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION v. TOLEDANO 1407
and the Central Committee and without the knowledge of the

members of those committees although that violated the

express language of the By-laws.” In fact, “it was customary

for the Central Committee and its officers to disregard

[bylaw] requirements without even thinking about it” when

doing so “suited them.” Toledano also alleges that he has

“personally seen contribution check envelopes being opened

and the checks tabulated, booked and taken directly into the

bank by persons who were not the designated campaign treasurer.” Toledano claims he “discussed this fact with several

individuals employed by the FEC. Not one has ever denied

that checks are indeed routinely deposited directly into the

bank by persons other than the designated campaign treasurer

without the treasurer ever having seen them, and that the FEC

has never prosecuted any person for such a hypertechnical

alleged violation.” 

That several unidentified “individuals employed by the

FEC” have failed to contradict Toledano’s claims proves

nothing. The individuals in question may simply have recognized that campaign treasurers often act through duly authorized agents. In any event, that others may have violated the

campaign laws in the past has no bearing on the lawfulness

of Toledano’s conduct. The only question before us is

whether Toledano violated the law. If he did, he gets no free

pass because others may have been better at escaping detection.3

3We are mindful that Toledano’s claim of rampant campaign-law illegality within the Orange County Democratic Party implicates the reputations of individuals who are not parties to these proceedings and have no

means of defending themselves. We note, therefore, that the record contains no evidence supporting Toledano’s charges; indeed, there is evidence

to the contrary. Marti Schrank, a long-time member of the Orange County

Democratic Party’s central and executive committees, states in her declaration: 

Based on my experience with the Orange County Democratic

Party’s Executive Committee and Central Committee, including

two terms as Vice-Chair under two Chairs who preceded Mr.

1408 FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION v. TOLEDANO
[4] Toledano next argues that section 432(b)’s requirements

are so mechanistic and irrational that we cannot possibly hold

anyone to them. But he is mistaken—both in his premise and

in his conclusion. It is axiomatic that “disclosure requirements

deter actual corruption and avoid the appearance of corruption

by exposing large contributions and expenditures to the light

of publicity.” Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1, 67 (1976) (per

curiam). In addition, “recordkeeping, reporting, and disclosure requirements are an essential means of gathering the data

necessary to detect violations of the contribution limitations.”

Id. at 67-68. Precisely because of the difficulty in keeping

track of “literally hundreds of thousands of campaign contribution checks, representing literally millions of dollars,” there

is nothing irrational about Congress’s decision to insist that

all funds coming into, and going out of, a committee pass

through a single entry-exit point—the treasurer. 

[5] The treasurer thus plays a pivotal role in the statutory

scheme. The Act requires every political committee to have

a treasurer, 2 U.S.C. § 432(a), and holds him personally

responsible for the committee’s recordkeeping and reporting

duties, id. §§ 432(c)-(d), 434(a). Every political committee

must designate accounts at one or more official “campaign

depository or depositories,” into which “[a]ll receipts received

by [the] committee shall be deposited” and from which all

Toledano, I am not aware of any situations in which Chairs made

substantial expenditures, such as an expenditure of $10,000, on

behalf of the Party for activities that had not been authorized by

the Central or Executive Committees. 

Amended Declaration of Marti Schrank at 11. 

Because we deem the issue irrelevant to our decision, we need not

resolve the factual dispute between Toledano’s and Schrank’s versions of

how business is conducted by the Orange County Democratic Party. Suffice it to say that, in light of Toledano’s persistent lapses of memory, see

pp. 1413-14 infra, and his demonstrated penchant for playing fast and

loose with the truth, see, e.g., n.10 infra, his charges against others should

not be accepted at face value. 

FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION v. TOLEDANO 1409
disbursements (other than petty cash disbursements) must be

drawn. Id. § 432(h)(1). The treasurer stands guard over these

accounts and “file[s] reports of receipts and disbursements in

accordance with the provisions of [2 U.S.C. § 434(a)].” Id.

§ 434(a)(1). The treasurer is also responsible for examining

“all contributions received for evidence of illegality and for

ascertaining whether contributions received, when aggregated

with other contributions from the same contributor, exceed

the contribution limitations.” 11 C.F.R. § 103.3(b). Congress

deems the treasurer so important that the financial machinery

of the campaign grinds to a halt when the office becomes

vacant. 2 U.S.C. § 432(a). 

[6] To recognize unauthorized “de facto agents” of the treasurer and thus open up multiple points of entry and exit

through which campaign funds may flow is to create predictable confusion and unravel the whole statutory scheme. The

facts of this case demonstrate the very evil Congress sought

to prevent and deter. By circumventing the process, Toledano

guaranteed that the LaPrades’ contribution escaped the kind

of skeptical scrutiny the statute and regulations provide for.

Had Toledano followed the statutorily mandated procedure

and handed the check and the donors’ information to the treasurer, questions would certainly have been raised about the

legality of such a large and highly unusual contribution; this,

in turn, could easily have led to the discovery of the

LaPrades’ relationship to Prince and their effort to circumvent

campaign contribution limits. Federal law makes the treasurer

responsible for detecting precisely such illegalities, 11 C.F.R.

§ 103.3(b), and holds him personally liable if he fails to fulfill

his responsibilities, see 2 U.S.C. § 437g(d); FEC v. Gus Savage for Congress ’82 Comm., 606 F. Supp. 541, 547 (N.D. Ill.

1985) (“It is the treasurer, and not the candidate, who

becomes the named defendant in federal court, and subjected

to the imposition of penalties ranging from substantial fines

to imprisonment.”). As Toledano admits, had he reported the

contribution, the money would not have been spent for the

illegal purpose. By cutting the treasurer out of the process,

1410 FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION v. TOLEDANO
Toledano prevented the kind of scrutiny of the LaPrades’ contribution that Congress contemplated. 

Finally, Toledano maintains that “[n]o purpose of [the Act]

was violated by [his] failure to hand the check to the treasurer.” When the treasurer discovered his malfeasance, Toledano

explains, the treasurer still had plenty of time to file the

required monthly and quarterly reports. Therefore, Toledano

concludes, the party’s violation of its reporting obligation was

not due to his transgression, but to the treasurer’s delay in

doing his job. His own action was “an absolute[ly] innocent

decision,” and even if there was a violation, it was “in the

most definite sense a no harm no foul kind of an injury.” In

Toledano’s view, the district court erred in adhering to a

“mechanistic and purely literal interpretation of the statute.”

[7] As already explained, however, we do not believe that

failure to report the contribution to the treasurer before the

money was spent was harmless. To the contrary, Toledano’s

failure to turn the funds over to the treasurer as the law

requires made the illegal $10,000 expenditure possible. “Congress enacts statutes, not purposes, and courts may not depart

from the statutory text because they believe some other

arrangement would better serve the legislative goals.” Cavanaugh v. U.S. Dist. Court (In re Cavanaugh), 306 F.3d 726,

731-32 (9th Cir. 2002). Toledano concedes that he violated

the explicit requirements of the statute. Because none of his

finger-pointing and complaining creates a genuine issue of

fact material to the application of the law, that should have

been the end of the story long ago. 

III

We have even less trouble rejecting Toledano’s remaining

arguments. 

A. The district court found that Toledano did not timely

raise the judicial estoppel issue—namely, the FEC has alleged

FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION v. TOLEDANO 1411
facts in this litigation inconsistent with those set out in the

conciliation agreements with the LaPrades—and therefore

concluded that Toledano waived the argument. Because Toledano does not challenge the district court’s conclusion that the

argument was waived, we need not address his judicial estoppel argument on the merits. See Paracor Fin. v. Gen. Elec.

Capital Corp., 96 F.3d 1151, 1168 (9th Cir. 1996). 

B. Toledano’s argument that the three-year statute of limitations applicable to criminal prosecutions also applies to

civil suits is risible. The statute to which Toledano points

reads: 

No person shall be prosecuted, tried, or punished for

any violation of subchapter I of this chapter, unless

the indictment is found or the information is instituted within 3 years after the date of the violation.

2 U.S.C. § 455(a) (emphasis added). 

Once again, Toledano would have us ignore the language

of the statute, which refers unmistakably to criminal prosecutions. What’s more, he asks us to disregard FEC v. Williams,

104 F.3d 237, 240 (9th Cir. 1996), which rejected precisely

this argument in holding that the five-year general statute of

limitations, 28 U.S.C. § 2462, “applies to FEC actions for the

assessment or imposition of civil penalties under [the Federal

Election Campaign Act].” Williams, 104 F.3d at 240. Toledano urges us to overturn Williams because the opinion is, in

his view, poorly reasoned. But it has long been the rule that

“only a panel sitting en banc may overturn existing Ninth Circuit precedent.” United States v. Camper, 66 F.3d 229, 232

(9th Cir. 1995). Williams, moreover, is plainly right. Because

the FEC’s action was brought within the five-year statute of

limitations, it was timely. 

C. Toledano also claims that the district court abused its

discretion in setting the amount of the penalty at $7500. He

1412 FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION v. TOLEDANO
bases his attack on two grounds. First, although he never suggested to the district court that he was unable to pay, Toledano now argues that the court erred in failing to consider his

financial circumstances before imposing the fine. We can

quickly reject this argument. It is settled that the “sanctioned

party has the burden to produce evidence of inability to pay.”

See, e.g., Gaskell v. Weir, 10 F.3d 626, 629 (9th Cir. 1993).

“Simple logic compels this result: [T]he sanctioned party

knows best his . . . financial situation.” Id. Because Toledano

failed to adduce any evidence of his inability to pay and did

not even raise the issue below, the argument is waived.4

Toledano’s second ground of attack requires a bit more discussion. In arriving at the $7500 penalty, the district court

relied on two factors we have identified as relevant in determining the amount of fine—bad faith and injury to the public.

FEC v. Furgatch, 869 F.2d 1256, 1258 (9th Cir. 1989). Toledano claims that the district court improperly “weigh[ed] and

judg[ed] Toledano’s reasons and motive, intent and purpose”

in finding bad faith. “[B]y word and phrase,” the district

court’s order incorrectly implied that Toledano was “intentionally devious and deceptive” and that he “was a Prince supporter and conspired with Prince to produce the mailer.”

Further, according to Toledano, the district court erred in concluding that Toledano’s “trivial” violation harmed the public.

We first address Toledano’s “bad faith” argument. Toledano insists that he had no idea that the LaPrades were related

to Prince and no suspicion that they were trying to evade campaign laws by funneling money to Prince through him and the

Democratic Party. Although Toledano admits in his affidavit

that he had earlier endorsed Prince’s candidacy, he says he

“had forgotten.” Furthermore, he claims, “I have no recollection of ever being in the Jim Prince for Congress headquarters, although it is likely that I was.” Even though Toledano

4Toledano’s argument seems to be a red herring in any event. See pp.

1421-22 & n.10 infra. 

FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION v. TOLEDANO 1413
worked with the Prince campaign and the campaign’s printer

to produce the pamphlets, he insists, “I do not recall who I

talked to . . . . I don’t recall recognizing to whom I was speaking. I vaguely recall working with the printer on the format

and colors for the design . . . , [but] I don’t really recall the

‘Jim Prince colors’ issue . . . . I had no idea that the [mailing

house] was working with the Prince campaign on this . . . .

And I had no idea that proofs were sent to the Prince campaign . . . .” 

Toledano’s answers at his deposition are equally opaque: 

Q: Did anybody suggest the idea of a slate mailer

to you? 

A: I have no recollection. It’s entirely possible. . . .

. . . . 

Q: What general discussions did you have with Mr.

Prince? 

A: At one point, Prince contacted me or spoke to

me at some function—I don’t know—either in telephone or in person, in which he said something to

the effect of wanting to—that’s possibly where I got

the idea—of wanting to fund something from the

party related to the party endorsements. . . . . 

Q: Did you say anything back to him? 

A: I have no specific recollection. I’m sure I said

something friendly and noncommital . . . . 

Q: Would you have given [Prince] any reason to

believe that if cash was in the hand that you would

be amenable to producing some sort of mailing that

1414 FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION v. TOLEDANO
trumpeted Mr. Prince’s endorsement by the California Democratic Party? 

A: I’m sure I said nothing to discourage him. 

Q: Is that a “yes”? 

A: I can’t give you a “yes.” I don’t recall what I

may have said. 

In his declarations and those portions of his deposition that

are part of the district court record, Toledano invokes phrases

such as “I don’t recall,” “I forgot,” “I’m not entirely sure,”

and “I have no independent recollection” over five dozen

times. 

In order to survive a motion for summary judgment, the

responding party must present competent evidence that

creates a genuine issue of material fact. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248-52 (1986). It is no longer

enough to deny the moving party’s allegations in a general

way, or to demand that the moving party be “put to its proof.”

See id. at 248. Rather, the party against whom a summary

judgment motion is brought must present evidence that, if

presented at trial, would support a judgment in its favor. See

id. at 250-51. Toledano’s repeated failures of recollection, and

his steadfast denials that he collaborated with the LaPrades to

circumvent federal campaign laws, fall far short of satisfying

this standard. 

The FEC presented competent evidence that Toledano

knew Prince and had given him an endorsement; that Prince

and Toledano discussed the possibility of having the party

create a publication relating to the endorsement, if only the

Prince campaign could come up with the money to fund it;

that sometime afterwards the LaPrades—who lived in Arizona and had no obvious connections with Orange County—

FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION v. TOLEDANO 1415
gave Toledano a $10,000 contribution;5

 that Toledano

instructed Debra LaPrade to send the check to his law office

rather than to the party’s headquarters; that he concealed the

contribution from fellow members on the party’s executive

committee, including the treasurer, and proceeded to spend

every cent of it on a mailer featuring Prince; and that, in doing

so, he used the same printer as the Prince campaign, produced

a pamphlet using Prince’s campaign colors, and sent it to people on the Prince campaign’s mailing list. Toledano admits

some of these facts; as to others, he claims he had no recollection or that he was unaware of them. But failure to remember

and lack of knowledge are not sufficient to create a genuine

dispute. The district court was entitled to treat these facts as

established for purposes of summary judgment. 

What Toledano really disputes is his complicity in the

LaPrades’ scheme to circumvent the campaign laws—in other

words, the state of mind animating his actions. Toledano

claims in essence it was just a big coincidence that he used the

$10,000 contributed by Prince’s sister and brother-in-law to

produce a mailer endorsing Prince and have it sent to 29,000

people on Prince’s campaign mailing list—precisely as the

5Toledano admitted at his deposition that the contribution was out of the

ordinary: 

Q: Didn’t you think [the LaPrades’] contribution was unusual

in any way? 

A: Very unusual. But when you’ve got a fish on a hook that

doesn’t have a barb and you want that fish, you are very delicate

about how you reel it in. . . . And as I said, it was probably horribly naive of me. But I wasn’t about to start pushing [Debra

LaPrade] around and maybe making the money go away. 

Deposition of James Toledano at 140-41. 

Toledano explained in his declaration that it “never occurred to me to

cross-examine [Debra LaPrade] and potentially drive her away, particularly since my family has repeatedly told me that I have a tendency to

cross-examine them and I am very sensitive to the impact that such conduct has on people.” Supplemental Declaration of James Toledano at 7. 

1416 FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION v. TOLEDANO
LaPrades intended that the money be used.6

 But state of mind

is not subject to proof through the normal means used to

establish facts in the physical world, such as eyewitness testimony. State of mind is something the trier of fact must infer

from the surrounding circumstances. The individual whose

state of mind is at issue can give an “eyewitness” account of

sorts, but the trier of fact is not bound to believe it. Toledano’s protestations that he lacked bad faith are insufficient

to create a genuine issue of material fact to defeat summary

judgment; the district court was entitled to draw negative

inferences about his state of mind based on Toledano’s suspicious memory lapses and the undisputed evidence presented

by the government.7

The district judge here had before him all the facts and circumstances surrounding Toledano’s actions, plus Toledano’s

repeated claims of failure of memory and protestations of

innocence. Toledano asks for a hearing, but suggests abso6

James Prince’s father, Harvey Prince, gave the following account: 

Ultimately, my daughter Debbie LaPrade and her husband Paul

LaPrade were asked to fund the slate-mailer because they did not

plainly have a connection to the campaign—their last name was

not “Prince” and they resided in Arizona, not California. I personally solicited the two contributions for the Orange County

Democratic Party that are at issue in this litigation, for $5,000

each, from Debbie and Paul and told them exactly to whom to

make the check payable. I got the “payee” information from my

son, Jim. I told Debbie and Paul that the money would fund a

slate-mailer featuring Democratic candidates, including Jim. I

also told my daughter and son-in-law what I thought to be true—

that it would be legal for them to contribute even though they had

each given my son’s campaign the maximum permissible contribution because the slate-mailer was allowed despite their earlier

contributions. They agreed to make the contribution, and did

make the contribution. 

Declaration of Harvey Prince at 3-4. 

7Because it is the judge, not a jury, who determines the amount of the

fine, this is not a case where the judge’s drawing of inferences based on

the undisputed facts might have usurped the jury’s prerogatives. 

FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION v. TOLEDANO 1417
lutely no additional evidence that he could or would have

presented at such a hearing; the record was complete. Based

on the evidence presented, the district court was entitled to

determine that any rational trier of fact would disbelieve Toledano’s repetitive claims of bad memory, reject his protestations of innocence, and conclude that Toledano accepted the

$10,000 check subject to an express or tacit understanding

that the money would be used to fund the Prince pamphlet.

This was enough to establish the requisite bad faith supporting the district court’s $7500 fine, but there is more. 

As Toledano concedes, his actions vis-à-vis fellow members of the party’s executive committee were hardly a model

of forthrightness and honesty. He schemed to bypass the

party’s organizational structure by accepting a very large contribution and spending it as he saw fit, disregarding the organization’s internal checks and balances designed to avoid

unilateral action. There is also strong evidence that, in pursuing these ends, Toledano altered the payee on the check by

adding the roman numeral “II” following “Democratic Party

of Orange County.”

8

8The evidence concerning this alteration is clear-cut and undisputed.

Paul LaPrade stated under oath that he made the check out to “Democratic

Party of Orange County,” that “I am certain that I did not write ‘Democratic Party of Orange County II’ on its face. I believe that someone else

added the ‘II’ after I wrote the check.” Declaration of Paul W. LaPrade at

3. 

Harvey Prince stated that he might have delivered the contribution

check to Toledano’s law office, “but I am certain that I did not write on

the check in any way.” Declaration of Harvey Prince at 4. 

The inference that the numeral “II” was added after the check was originally written is supported by the fact that the “Democratic Party of Orange

County II” account didn’t come into existence until Toledano set it up,

check in hand. Toledano claims in his deposition that the “II” “doesn’t

look like my handwriting” and that “it’s entirely possible the bank did it

in conformity with the way I told them to label the account.” Deposition

of James Toledano at 161. But he presented no evidence to support this

far-fetched speculation. 

1418 FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION v. TOLEDANO
The alteration to the check, which quite likely amounts to

forgery under the applicable state law, see Cal. Penal Code

§ 470; Atwell v. Mercantile Trust Co., 95 Cal. App. 338, 345

(1928) (“The alteration of the payee’s name on the face of the

checks constituted forgery under section 470 of the Penal

Code . . . .”), and the unauthorized diversion of funds donated

to the party, which seems to fit the definition of embezzlement, see Cal. Penal Code § 504; People v. Talbot, 220 Cal.

3, 15 (1934) (“[I]n every case where the officers of a corporation who are necessarily entrusted with the money and property of the concern use it, knowingly and intentionally, for

their own purposes, there is a ‘fraudulent appropriation’

thereof which is termed embezzlement by the statute . . . .”),

are not—as Toledano claims—merely “political sins” unrelated to the enforcement of the federal campaign laws.9

9We are not overstating Toledano’s argument. Here it is, in his own

words: 

The only conduct in the record to which any negative references

may be made was Toledano’s admitted concealment of his

actions from his political adversaries which, no matter how egregious a political sin it may have been was hardly what Congress

could have had in mind when FECA was enacted and which, if

it is material, represents a genuine issue of fact that could not

properly be decided on summary judgment without weighing and

judging Toledano’s reasons and motive, intent and purpose.

While the district court was emphatic to the contrary, a desire to

further one’s political objectives is not per se evidence of campaign law bad faith, and there was no evidence, even disputed,

that Toledano was trying to prevent the contribution from being

reported, or to interfere with Federal election laws, quite to the

contrary, but only that he naively seized on what appeared to be

an opportunity to publicize the party that he headed, in the teeth

of political and personal issues, and ran headfirst into a technicality. 

Appellant’s Opening Br. at 28-29. And again: 

[T]he FEC has confused its role. It is not charged with enforcing

some generalized standard of morality on the American political

scene . . . . 

Appellant’s Reply Br. at 26. 

FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION v. TOLEDANO 1419
Rather, Toledano’s deliberate and repeated violations of his

party’s internal procedures—not to mention his likely violations of applicable state laws—were the sine qua non of the

federal campaign law violations that he and others committed.

Federal campaign laws, like federal laws in general, are

interstitial in character. They establish rules for the handling

and reporting of campaign contributions by individuals and

organizations, but they do not fully prescribe operating procedures for them. Federal law presupposes, rather, that state law

and internal bylaws will supply the organizational structure,

and that this structure will be respected and followed by those

involved. When an individual takes it upon himself to deliberately and massively disregard the applicable state laws or

internal procedures, and this noncompliance causes or facilitates a violation of the federal campaign laws, the bad faith

involved in undermining the organization’s structure is fully

attributable to the violation of the federal campaign laws. 

Toledano’s misconduct is not, as he argues, an unrelated

“political sin,” nor did he simply run “headfirst into a technicality.” Rather, Toledano intentionally short-circuited the procedures Congress rationally relied upon to help ensure

compliance with federal disclosure and reporting requirements, and prevent other violations of federal election law.

The district court’s determination that there is no genuine

issue of material fact that Toledano acted in bad faith is amply

supported by the record. Indeed, there is no other permissible

conclusion. 

The district court’s determination that Toledano’s misconduct harmed the public is equally inescapable. Public harm

can be presumed “from the magnitude or seriousness of the

violation” of the FECA. Furgatch, 869 F.2d at 1259. As previously discussed, Toledano’s machinations enabled him to

spend the illegal $10,000 contribution to promote a candidate

in the heat of a campaign. In a primary congressional election,

this is far from a trivial sum and could well have made a dif1420 FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION v. TOLEDANO
ference. That Prince lost anyway, and the violation thus had

no effect on the outcome of the election, does not change the

fact that the public was harmed by the infusion of illegal campaign funds. The district court’s $7500 fine, significantly less

than the amount improperly spent to sway the election, was

quite generous to Toledano in light of his admitted misdeeds,

and certainly was not an abuse of discretion. 

IV

Although the FEC did not request attorney’s fees on appeal,

we invoke our inherent power to “protect[ ] the due and

orderly administration of justice” and “maintain[ ] the authority and dignity of the court,” Cooke v. United States, 267 U.S.

517, 539 (1925); Primus Auto. Fin. Servs., Inc. v. Batarse,

115 F.3d 644, 648 (9th Cir. 1997), and order Toledano to pay

the FEC’s attorney’s fees on this appeal as a sanction for his

bad-faith conduct and abuse of the judicial process. See

Chambers v. NASCO, Inc., 501 U.S. 32, 45-46 (1991); Fink

v. Gomez, 239 F.3d 989, 991-92 (9th Cir. 2001). 

Toledano cannot fairly claim surprise; he was given

repeated warnings that his arguments are frivolous. At the

motions hearing, the district judge minced no words in telling

Toledano that “there isn’t anything to litigate,” that his arguments are “completely lacking in any merit, whatsoever,” that

the judge read his brief “in frank dismay,” and that Toledano’s position is “somewhat shameful.” In its orders, the district court variously characterized Toledano’s arguments as

“facially inadequate,” “specious,” “frivolous,” “spurious,”

“far fetched” and “meritless.” 

But Toledano would have none of it and presses these same

arguments on appeal. At oral argument, we advised Toledano

that, like the district court, we considered his arguments frivolous. We also deferred submission to give Toledano one last

FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION v. TOLEDANO 1421
opportunity to pay the fine and avoid further action on our

part. Toledano refused to do so.10

We conclude that Toledano “has acted in bad faith, vexatiously [and] wantonly,” and has “willfully abuse[d] [the]

judicial processes.” Fink, 239 F.3d at 991 (internal quotation

marks omitted). This is an appeal that should never have been

taken, and would not have been taken by an attorney exercising independent, dispassionate judgment. Indeed, given the

undisputed facts established during the course of the FEC’s

10In refusing to pay the fine, Toledano sent a letter on his law office stationery implying that he couldn’t afford to do so: 

When Judge Kozinski cut off oral argument last Tuesday, he

told me that if I did not pay the $7,500 penalty imposed against

me within a week a published opinion would be filed affirming

the district court judgment. 

I am no more able to pay that sum today than I was when

Judge Feess plucked it out of thin air. I therefore respectfully ask

[the clerk of the court] to advise him of that fact. 

Letter from James Toledano, to Clerk of the Court (July 16, 2002). 

While Toledano argues on appeal that the district court erred when it

failed to consider his ability to pay in assessing the penalty, see p. 1412

supra, he did not claim until this letter that his financial circumstances

actually prevented him from paying. Nevertheless, we gave Toledano the

benefit of the doubt and allowed him to work out a payment plan consistent with his financial condition. The FEC consented to this procedure, but

Toledano advised us that he was simply unwilling to pay. See Letter from

James Toledano, to Clerk of the Court (Aug. 8, 2002) (“I was not going

to pay the $7500 penalty that the District Court had imposed against me

without benefit of evidence.”). 

Although it is Toledano’s prerogative to insist that we decide the case,

the reference in his original letter to being “no more able to pay that sum

today” seems designed to mislead us as to his motives and financial circumstances. While perhaps not an outright lie—the statement is literally

true, whether he could well or ill afford to pay the fine now and at the time

he appeared before the district court—its only conceivable purpose is to

create the impression that he wasn’t paying the fine because he couldn’t

afford to do so. This falls below the level of candor we expect from someone who is not merely a litigant, but also an officer of the court. 

1422 FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION v. TOLEDANO
administrative proceedings and Toledano’s own admissions,

it was an unjustifiable waste of the taxpayers’ money to force

the FEC to bring this action to collect a civil penalty that was

unquestionably due. We therefore grant the FEC attorney’s

fees and related expenses on appeal. 

V

We affirm in all respects the district court’s order granting

the FEC’s summary judgment motion and imposing a $7500

fine against Toledano. The case is referred to the Appellate

Commissioner for a determination of the FEC’s attorney’s

fees and related expenses in defending this case on appeal.

The Commissioner is authorized to enter a judgment for that

amount against Toledano. 

AFFIRMED.

FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION v. TOLEDANO 1423