Week of September 30 – October 4, 2019

Commission meetings and hearings

No open meetings or executive sessions were scheduled this week.

Enforcement

The Commission made public four closed cases, as follows. For more information, see the case documents in the Enforcement Query System.

MUR 7456

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENTS: American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education and Lorretta Johnson, in her official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
SUBJECT: In the normal course of carrying out its supervisory responsibilities, the Commission initiated proceedings to determine whether there was reason to believe that the Committee failed to disclose $1,071,374.34 in receipts and disbursements on its 2016 September Monthly, 2016 12-Day Pre-General, and 2016 30-Day Post-General Reports, and $114,750.68 in receipts on its 2017 30-Day Post-Special Report.
DISPOSITION: The Commission entered into a conciliation agreement providing for the Committee to pay a civil penalty of $34,000.

MUR 7467

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENTS: Freedom’s Defense Fund and Paul Kilgore, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
SUBJECT: In the normal course of carrying out its supervisory responsibilities, the Commission initiated proceedings to determine whether there was reason to believe that the Committee misreported over $1.3 million, including failing to properly report independent expenditures, failing to disclose outstanding debts relating to IEs, and additional misreporting.
DISPOSITION: The Commission entered into a conciliation agreement providing for the Committee to pay a civil penalty of $50,000.

MUR 7600

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENTS: Utah State Democratic Committee and Sheila Srivastiva, in her official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
SUBJECT: In the normal course of carrying out its supervisory responsibilities, the Commission initiated proceedings to determine whether there was reason to believe that the Committee failed to disclose $809,210 in receipts and transfers on its 2016 12-Day Pre-General Report.
DISPOSITION: The Commission entered into a conciliation agreement providing for the Committee to pay a civil penalty of $16,500.

MUR 7616

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENTS: Oakland County Democratic Party and Phillip W. Reid, in his official capacity as treasurer (OCDP)
SUBJECT: In the normal course of carrying out its supervisory responsibilities, the Commission initiated proceedings to determine whether there was reason to believe that OCDP failed to properly itemize individual contributions.
DISPOSITION: The Commission entered into a conciliation agreement providing for OCDP to pay a civil penalty of $19,936.

Litigation

CREW, et al. v. FEC (Case No. 19-1650). On September 26, the Commission filed an Answer to the Complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Free Speech for People v. FEC (Case No. 19-1722). On September 27, Plaintiffs filed a Memorandum in Opposition to the Commission’s Motion to Dismiss in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Lieu, et al. v. FEC (USCA Case 19-5072). On October 3, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued a Per Curiam order, finding moot the Appellants’ motion to hold in abeyance and granting the Commission’s motion for summary affirmance.

Regulations and Agency Procedures

REG 2019-01. On October 3, the Commission made public the comments it received on the Rulemaking Petition to amend the Commission’s definition of contribution to include “valuable information.”

Outreach

On September 28, Chair Ellen L. Weintraub participated in a panel discussion, “How to Fix American Politics,” at the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin, TX.

On October 2, the Commission hosted reporting and FECFile webinars for candidate committees.

Press releases

Appeals Court issues opinion in Lieu, et al. v. FEC (issued October 3)

Upcoming reporting due dates

October 15: October Quarterly reports are due. For more information on quarterly reporting dates, refer to the 2019 Quarterly Reporting page of the Commission website.

October 20: October Monthly reports are due. For more information on monthly reporting dates, refer to the 2019 Monthly Reporting page of the Commission website.

The Commission has posted the filing deadlines for the Wisconsin 7th Congressional District Special Election. For information on the reporting dates for this election, refer to the Special Election Report Notice.

Upcoming educational programs

On October 29-30, the Commission will host a Regional Conference in San Diego, CA for candidates, political parties, and political action committees.

Additional research materials

FEC Notify: Want to be notified by email when campaign finance reports are received by the agency? Sign up here.

Additional research materials about the agency, campaign finance information, and election results are available through the Library section of the Commission website.

Printed copies of the 2019 edition of Title 11 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) are available. Contact the Commission's Information Division at (202) 694-1100 or (800) 424-9530 (press 6, when prompted) to order printed copies of the CFR at no charge. You may also email the Information Division to place an order at info@fec.gov.

The 2019 Combined Federal State Disclosure and Election Directory is available. This publication identifies the federal and state agencies responsible for the disclosure of campaign finances, lobbying, personal finances, public financing, candidates on the ballot, election results, spending on state initiatives and other financial filings. To order a printed copy, please contact the FEC’s Public Records Office at 800/424-9530 (option 2) or 202/694-1120, or send an email to pubrec@fec.gov.

Federal Elections 2016: Election Results for the U.S. President, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives is available. The data was compiled from the official vote totals published by state election offices. To order a printed copy, please contact the FEC’s Public Records Office at 800/424-9530 (option 2) or 202/694-1120, or send an email to pubrec@fec.gov.

The FEC Record is available as a continuously updated online news source.

Join the FEC on Twitter and YouTube

Follow @FEC on Twitter to receive the latest information on agency updates, news releases, and weekly activity. Subscribe to our YouTube channel, FECTube: FECConnect on Demand, to watch instructional videos that have been designed to help candidates and committees comply with federal campaign finance laws. Note that the FEC is not currently available through other social media platforms at this time. The use of the agency’s logo, name, and likeness on other media has not been authorized by the FEC.