Orange County Register

Remember the three mystery donors who made illegal contributions via Supervisor Janet Nguyen’s attorney? The biggest problem was that they exceeded the $1,600 contribution limit and that their names were not disclosed until 50 days after the required deadline. (When they were finally disclosed, they proved non-controversial and anti-climactic.)

Well, it turns out that there were a dozen others who also donated directly to Nguyen’s attorney, for a total of $7,950.

– Martin Wisckol

Those 12 are listed in the campaign disclosures Nguyen filed yesterday. Unlike the three donors who attracted so much attention after the Feb. 6 special election, these 12 are within the contribution limits. Dave Gilliard, Nguyen’s consultant, said the rules were carefully perused and followed regarding those donations and their documentation.

However, Mike Schroeder, backer of Nguyen opponent Trung Nguyen, says otherwise.

“These are illegal contributions that should be returned,” Schroeder said. “It’s a continuing pattern of deception by Janet.”

Who’s right? I called campaign watchdog Shirley Grindle, a frequent Schroeder critic who has also complained about Janet Nguyen’s earlier failure to disclose those the three mystery donors.

“They should not have sent the checks to Greer (Nguyen attorney Phil Greer), but what do you do now?” she said, by way of giving Nguyen a pass this time around. “They’re itemized, we know who the donors are and they didn’t exceed the limit.”

– Martin Wisckol

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