The Seriousness of Tampering

Two years ago the Senate campaign of the small American Independent Party’s candidate in California was unexpectedly enriched just a few days before the November election with a $120,000 contribution to buy political advertising. The money, 24 times the amount received up to that point by candidate Edward B. Vallen, supposedly came from 55 different contributors. In fact, according to a federal grand jury indictment, the 55 donors of record were promptly reimbursed by Los Angeles businessman Michael R. Goland and a few associates. Goland and three other men now face charges that include conspiracy, making excessive contributions to a federal candidate, unlawfully making campaign contributions through conduits and causing false statements to be made to the Federal Election Commission.

According to federal prosecutors, Goland and his associates hoped that by providing some support to the conservative Vallen they could draw votes away from Republican candidate Ed Zschau, and so help the re-election campaign of their real choice, Democratic Sen. Alan Cranston. Goland is a strong supporter of Israel and pro-Israel candidates, like Cranston. Vallen received just under 110,000 votes on Election Day, about 5,000 more than Cranston’s margin of victory over Zschau. There is no evidence that Vallen or Cranston knew about the alleged purpose of the $120,000 contribution.

The allegations against Goland and the three others are serious because any effort to thwart the democratic electoral process is serious. That’s why there are harsh penalties for those found guilty of violating election-campaign laws. If Goland is convicted on all counts, he could face up to 17 years in a prison and a fine of $1 million. No one will ever know whether the contributions to Vallen succeeded in taking enough votes away from Zschau to change the election results. What matters in the legal case that is now unfolding is the alleged intent, which was bad enough.