| WASHINGTON -- The Federal Election Commission has recently made public
its final action on four matters previously under review (MURs). This release contains
only disposition information. Specific released documents placed on the public record
within the following closed MURs are cited following DISPOSITION heading. Release of these
documents is consistent with the district court opinion in the December 19, 2001, decision
of AFL-CIO v. FEC, now on appeal to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. Once an appellate
decision is rendered, the Commission will review documents related to cases released in
the interim.
| 1. |
MUR 4789 [See MUR 5340] |
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| RESPONDENTS: |
(a) Democratic Party of New Mexico, Judy Baker,
treasurer (b) Thomas Atcitty
(c) Joseph Cervantes
(d) Earl Potter
(e) Ray D. Sena
(f) Deborah McDonald |
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| COMPLAINANTS: |
Republican Party of New Mexico, John Dendahl,
Chairman |
|
| SUBJECT: |
Failure to accurately report debts |
|
| DISPOSITION: |
(a) Conciliation Agreement: $10,000 civil
penalty* [This conciliation agreement is a joint agreement for MURs 4789 and 5340]
(b-e) Take no action*
(f) No reason to believe*
[re: any provision of the Act] |
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| DOCUMENTS ON PUBLIC RECORD: |
First General Counsel’s Report (dated
December 5, 2002); certification of vote by Commissioners (dated December 11, 2002);
General Counsel’s Report #2 (dated February 3, 2003); certification of vote by
Commissioners (dated February 12, 2002); Conciliation Agreement; receipt of payment (dated
March 11, 2003) |
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| 2. |
MUR 5123 |
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| RESPONDENTS: |
(a) Friends of Phill, Jay F. Ketterling,
treasurer (b) Phill D. Kline
(c) Dwight D. Sutherland, Jr. |
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| COMPLAINANTS: |
David Plouffe, Executive Director, Democratic
Congressional Campaign Committee |
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| SUBJECT: |
Failure to timely file independent expenditure
report; disclaimer; excessive contribution; failure to report contribution |
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| DISPOSITION: |
(a) No reason to believe* [re: excessive
contribution; failure to report contribution]
(b) No reason to believe*
[re: excessive contribution]
(c) Conciliation Agreement: $4,875 civil penalty*
No reason to believe*
[re: excessive contribution] |
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| DOCUMENTS ON PUBLIC RECORD: |
Receipt of payment (dated March 25, 2003);
Conciliation Agreement; certification of vote by Commissioners (dated April 1, 2003);
certification of vote by Commissioners (dated January 6, 2003); First General
Counsel’s report (dated December 20, 2003) |
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| 3. |
MUR 5338 |
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| RESPONDENTS: |
(a) National Republican Congressional Committee,
Donna M. Anderson, treasurer (b) The Leadership Forum
(c) Susan Hirschmann
(d) L. William Paxon
(e) Democratic State Parties Organization
(f) DNC Services Corp./Democratic National Committee, Andrew Tobias, treasurer
(g) Terry McAuliffe
(h) Joseph Carmichael |
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| COMPLAINANTS: |
Donald J. Simon, Acting President, Common Cause Fred
Wertheimer, President, Democracy 21
Trevor Potter, General Counsel, The Campaign and Media Legal Center
Larry Noble, Executive Director, Center for Responsive Politics |
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| SUBJECT: |
Establishment, financing, maintenance or control
of organizations by national party committees, use and receipt of non-federal funds;
failure to report receipts and disbursements |
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| DISPOSITION: |
(a) Reason to believe, but took no further
action* [re: receipt of non-federal funds by a national party committee]
Sent admonishment letter.
(b-e) No reason to believe*
[re: use and receipt of non-federal funds; failure to report receipts and
disbursements]
(f-h) No reason to believe*
[re: use and receipt of non-federal funds] |
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| DOCUMENTS ON PUBLIC RECORD: |
First General Counsel’s Report (dated March
27, 2003); certification of vote by Commissioners (dated April 8, 2003); Memo –
Technical Correction of RTB Finding (dated April 15, 2003); certification of vote by
Commissioners (dated April 16, 2003); Statement of Reasons by Commissioners Weintraub and
Thomas; Statement of Reasons by Commissioner McDonald; Statement of Reasons by
Commissioner Mason; Statement of Reasons by Commissioner Smith; Statement of Reasons by
Commissioner Toner |
| 4. |
MUR 5340 [See MUR 4789] |
|
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| RESPONDENTS: |
Democratic Party of New Mexico, Judy Baker,
treasurer |
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| COMPLAINANT: |
FEC Initiated (Audit) |
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| SUBJECT: |
Excessive contributions |
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| DISPOSITION: |
Conciliation Agreement: $10,000 civil penalty* [This
conciliation agreement is a joint agreement for MURs 4789 and 5340] |
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| DOCUMENTS ON PUBLIC RECORD: |
Receipt of payment (dated March 11, 2003);
Conciliation Agreement; certification of vote by Commissioners (dated February 12, 2002) |
*There are four administrative stages to the FEC enforcement process:
| 1. Receipt of proper complaint |
3. "Probable cause" stage |
| 2. "Reason to believe" stage |
4. Conciliation stage |
It requires the votes of at least four of the six Commissioners to take any action. The
FEC can close a case at any point after reviewing a complaint. If a violation is found and
conciliation cannot be reached, then the FEC can institute a civil court action against a
respondent. |
