William Wentworth, a wealthy and influential business owner, had a vested interest in seeing his preferred candidate win the Senate election. Wentworth has unlimited monies but he is subject to the strict limits placed on individual contributions to one specific Senator’s campaigns. Wentworth asked all one hundred employees to write $1,000 personal checks in order to make contributions to Senator X’s federal election campaign. Wentworth then reimbursed each employee, in the form of a check or cash, the exact amount of the checks they wrote. Senator X’s campaign staff is required to file reports that include contributors’ names with the Federal Election Commission (FEC). And Senator X’s campaign treasurers were seemingly unaware that the FEC campaign finance reports they filed were actually false due to Wentworth’s ability to conceal that he was the source of all of the contributions. In what ways, if any, have Wentworth and the campaign treasurers violated 18 U.S.C. Section 1001? Be sure to reference what mental state is required under 18 U.S.C. Section 2.
Please cite applicable federal regulations, statutes or cases in support of your analysis.