MUR #6850

RESPONDENTS: Friends of Mike Lee Inc; Black, Arvin Lee; Black, Atia; Black, Matthew; JPMorgan Chase & Co.; John and Jane Doe, Unidentified straw campaign donors (UTAH); Johnson, Jeremy; Lee, Mike; McCauley, Mike; McMillan, Ronald; Swallow, John

COMPLAINANTS: Alliance for a Better Utah; Martindale, Maryann

SUBJECT: Committees-Candidate; Contributions-Prohibited; Contributions-In the name of another; Contributions-Excessive; Personal use; Reporting

DISPOSITION: The Commission decided by a vote of 5-0 to take the following actions in MUR 6850: 1. Close the file. 2. Issue appropriate letters.
The Commission decided by a vote of 5-1 to 1. Open a new MUR. 2. Sever the allegations addressed in this Report, based on Count II of the Complaint in MUR 6850, as to Mike Lee, Friends of Mike Lee and Mike McCauley in his official capacity as treasurer, J.P. Morgan Chase & Company, and Ronald McMillan, and place them into the new MUR. 3. Find no reason to believe that J.P. Morgan Chase & Company made a prohibited contribution in violation of 52 U.S.C. § 30118(a). 4. Find no reason to believe that Ronald McMillan made an excessive contribution in violation of 52 U.S.C. § 30116(a). 5. Find no reason to believe that Mike Lee or Friends of Mike Lee and Mike McCauley in his official capacity as treasurer knowingly accepted prohibited contributions in violation of 52 U.S.C. § 30118(a). 6. Find no reason to believe that Mike Lee or Friends of Mike Lee and Mike McCauley in his official capacity as treasurer knowingly accepted excessive contributions in violation of 52 U.S.C. § 30116(f). 7. Find no reason to believe that Mike Lee converted campaign contributions to personal use in violation of 52 U.S.C. § 30114(b). 8. Find no reason to believe that Friends of Mike Lee and Mike McCauley in his official capacity as treasurer failed to disclose contributions to the Commission in violation of 52 U.S.C. § 30104(b). 9. Approve the factual and legal analysis, as recommended in the Fifth General Counsel’s Report dated February 2, 2016, except to incorporate the edits as circulated by the Republican Offices on March 14, 2016. 10. Close the new MUR file. 11. Send the appropriate letters.
The Commission decided by a vote of 4-0 to take the following actions in MUR 6850: 1. Authorize the Office of the General Counsel to file a civil suit for relief in the United States District Court against John Swallow, as recommended in the Fourth General Counsel’s Report dated November 30, 2015. 2. Approve the appropriate letter.
The Commission decided by a vote of 4-0 to approve additional edits to the Conciliation Agreement previously approved on October 27, 2015, as contained in an email from the Acting General Counsel dated October 28, 2015 at 3:54 P.M.
The Commission decided by a vote of 4-0 to: a. Find probable cause to believe that John Swallow knowingly and willfully violated 52 U.S.C. § 30122. b. Approve the proposed conciliation agreement as recommended in the Memorandum from the Office of General Counsel dated October 15, 2015 with the edits discussed at the Table. c. . . . REDACTED . . . d. Send the appropriate letters.
The Commission failed by a vote of 1-3 to: a. Find probable cause to believe that John Swallow knowingly and willfully violated 52 U.S.C. § 30122. b. Approve the proposed conciliation agreement as recommended in the Memorandum from the Office of General Counsel dated October 15, 2015 . . . REDACTED . . . c. Send the appropriate letters.
The Commission decided by a vote of 4-1 to take the following actions in MUR 6850: 1. Accept the signed conciliation agreement with Arvin Black, as recommended in the Memorandum from the Associate General Counsel for Enforcement dated June 25, 2015. 2. Approve the appropriate letter. 3. Close the file as to Arvin Black
The Commission decided by a vote of 5-0 to take the following actions in MUR 6850: 1. Dismiss the allegations that Matthew Black and Atia Black violated 52 U.S.C. § 30122. 2. Dismiss the allegations that the Friends of Mike Lee and Mike McCauley in his official capacity as treasurer violated 52 U.S.C. § 30122. 3. Close the file as to Matthew Black and Atia Black. 4. Send the appropriate letters.
The Commission decided by a vote of 4-0 to take the following actions in MUR 6850: 1. Authorize the Office of General Counsel to file a civil suit for relief in the United States District Court against Jeremy Johnson, as recommended in the Second General Counsel’s Report dated June 3, 2015. 2. Approve the appropriate letter.
The Commission decided by a vote of 4-0 to take the following actions in MUR 6850: 1. Approve the conciliation agreement, as recommended in the Memorandum from the Deputy General Counsel for Law dated April 7, 2015. 2. Approve the appropriate letter.
The Commission decided by a vote of 4-0 to find probable cause to believe that Jeremy Johnson knowingly and willfully violated 52 U.S.C. § 30122 (formerly 2 U.S.C. § 441f) and 30116(a) (formerly 2 U.S.C. § 441a(a)), as recommended in the Memorandum from the Deputy General Counsel for Law dated April 7, 2015.
The Commission decided by a vote of 5-0 to take the following actions in MUR 6850: 1. Approve the conciliation agreement, as recommended in the Memorandum from the Deputy General Counsel for Law dated April 8, 2015. 2. Approve the appropriate letter.
The Commission decided by a vote of 5-0 to find probable cause to believe that Arvin Lee Black violated 52 U.S.C. § 30122 (formerly 2 U.S.C. § 441f) and 52 U.S.C. § 30116(a) (formerly 2 U.S.C. § 441a(a)), as recommended in the Memorandum from the Deputy General Counsel for Law dated April 8, 2015.
The Commission decided by a vote of 6-0 to approve the Subpoena to Produce Documents to Robb Evans, as recommended in the Memorandum from the Associate General Counsel for Enforcement dated January 28, 2015.
The Commission decided by a vote of 6-0, as recommended in the Memorandum from the Associate General Counsel for Enforcement dated December 10, 2014, to approve: 1. Deposition Subpoena, Subpoenas to Produce Documents, and Orders to Submit Written Answers for Jeremy Johnson, John Swallow, and Arvin L. Black. 2. Subpoenas to Produce Documents and Orders to Submit Written Answers for Atia Black, Matthew Black, Kyle Bower, Tiffany Bower, Duane Fielding, Robin Fielding, Barbara Johnson, Jeremy Johnson, Kerry Johnson, Sharla Johnson, Savannah Jones, Bryce Payne, Krista Payne, Christopher Wade, Stephen Wade, and Mikelle Yates.
The Commission failed by a vote of 3-3 to: a. Find reason to believe that Jeremy Johnson knowingly and willfully violated 52 U.S.C. § 30116(a) (formerly 2 U.S.C. § 441a(a)) and 52 U.S.C. § 30122 (formerly 2 U.S.C. § 441f) by making excessive contributions in the names of others to Friends of Mike Lee. b. Find reason to believe that John Swallow knowingly and willfully violated 52 U.S.C. § 30122 (formerly 2 U.S.C. § 441f) by making excessive contributions in the names of others to Friends of Mike Lee. c. Find reason to believe that Arvin Lee Black violated 52 U.S.C. § 30122 (formerly 2 U.S.C. § 441f). d. Take no action at this time as to the allegations that Atia Black, Matthew Black, or Friends of Mike Lee and Mike McCauley in his official capacity as treasurer violated 52 U.S.C. § 30122 (formerly 2 U.S.C. § 411f) and 52 U.S.C. § 30116(f) (formerly 2 U.S.C. § 441a(f)). e. Approve the Factual and Legal Analyses as recommended in the First General Counsel’s Report dated October 16, 2014. f. Authorize the use of compulsory process. g. Approve the appropriate letters.
The Commission decided by a vote of 6-0 to: a. Find reason to believe that Jeremy Johnson violated 52 U.S.C. § 30116(a) (formerly 2 U.S.C. § 441a(a)) and 52 U.S.C. § 30122 (formerly 2 U.S.C. § 441f) by making excessive contributions in the names of others to Friends of Mike Lee. b. Find reason to believe that John Swallow violated 52 U.S.C. § 30122 (formerly 2 U.S.C. § 441f) by making excessive contributions in the names of others to Friends of Mike Lee. c. Find reason to believe that Arvin Lee Black violated 52 U.S.C. § 30122 (formerly 2 U.S.C. § 441f). d. Take no action at this time as to the allegations that Atia Black, Matthew Black, or Friends of Mike Lee and Mike McCauley in his official capacity as treasurer violated 52 U.S.C. § 30122 (formerly 2 U.S.C. § 411f) and 52 U.S.C. § 30116(f) (formerly 2 U.S.C. § 441a(f)). e. Approve the Factual and Legal Analyses as recommended in the First General Counsel’s Report dated October 16, 2014 subject to the edits last circulated by Commissioner Hunter’s Office with respect to the Factual and Legal Analysis for Arvin Lee Black and Commissioner Weintraub’s Office with respect to the Factual and Legal Analyses for Jeremy Johnson and John Swallow. f. Authorize the Office of General Counsel to make technical and conforming edits. g. Authorize the use of compulsory process. h. Approve the appropriate letters.