Week of July 11-15, 2022

Commission meetings and hearings

On July 12 and 14, the Commission met in executive session.

On July 14, the Commission held an open meeting.

Advisory Opinions

Opinion Issued

Advisory Opinion 2022-09 (Democratic Party of Wisconsin Federal) On July 14, the Commission approved Advisory Opinion 2022-09 in response to a request from the Democratic Party of Wisconsin Federal regarding its proposal to form a joint fundraising committee with a nominee fund that has been established for the eventual Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Wisconsin. The Commission concluded that the proposal is permissible because it is consistent both with the Commission’s regulation governing joint fundraising activities and with prior Commission advisory opinions concerning the solicitation of contributions on behalf of a yet-to-be-determined recipient.

Opinion Considered

Advisory Opinion Request 2022-07 (Swalwell) On July 14, the Commission voted on two draft advisory opinions in response to a request from Congressman Swalwell and his principal campaign committee, regarding whether he may use campaign funds to pay for overnight childcare expenses incurred when he travels to perform his own campaign duties, to campaign for other candidates, and on information-gathering trips at the invitation of foreign governments and other organizations, but did not approve either draft by the requisite four affirmative votes. The Commission directed the Office of General Counsel to prepare a draft reflecting the areas of consensus.

Opinion Held Over and Extension of Time

Advisory Opinion Request 2022-06 (Hispanic Leadership Trust) On July 14, the Commission discussed and held over its consideration of Advisory Opinion Request 2022-06. The Hispanic Leadership Trust (HLT) asked several questions relating to whether HLT would be a leadership PAC if its chair and vice chair were members of Congress, or whether HLT would be affiliated with the chair or vice chair’s leadership PACs, under a series of alternative proposed bylaws it presented. The requestor submitted a comment on a draft advisory opinion and granted the Commission an extension of time to July 29.

Comments Received and Extension of Comment Period

Advisory Opinion Request 2022-14 (Google LLC) This week, the Commission received public comments on the advisory opinion request. The requestor asks whether it may provide a free and non-partisan pilot program to test certain design features in its email product to authorized candidate committees, political party committees, and leadership political action committees. On July 14, the Commission approved an extension of the public comment period to August 5, 2022.

Enforcement

The Commission made public six closed cases and one additional Statement of Reasons, as follows. For more information, see the case documents in the Enforcement Query System.

MUR 7516

COMPLAINANTS: Margaret Christ; and Campaign Legal Center
RESPONDENT: Heritage Action for America (Heritage Action)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that Heritage Action failed to disclose donors in connection with certain independent expenditures pursuant to a 2018 decision by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington v. FEC as well as subsequent Commission guidance, which required disclosure of donors who make contributions for the purpose of furthering an independent expenditure.
DISPOSITION: The Commission closed the file. Chairman Allen Dickerson and Commissioners Sean J. Cooksey and James E. “Trey” Trainor, III and Commissioners Shana M. Broussard and Ellen L. Weintraub issued Statements of Reasons.

MUR 7861

COMPLAINANT: Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington
RESPONDENTS: American Jobs and Growth PAC and Thomas Norris, in his official capacity as treasurer (American Jobs); Thomas Norris; Government Integrity Fund (GIF); Joel Riter; Unknown Respondents; and Kyle Sisk
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that GIF made contributions on behalf of one or more unknown individuals to American Jobs to fund independent expenditures in support of then-Virginia representative Scott Taylor’s 2018 congressional race, violating the prohibition of making and accepting contributions in the name of another.
DISPOSITION: The Commission found no reason to believe that the allegations occurred because the available information did not provide sufficient support that unknown respondents made contributions to American Jobs in GIF’s name.

MUR 7970

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: Washington State Democratic Central Committee and Julie Johnson, in her official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
SUBJECT: In the normal course of exercising its supervisory responsibilities, the Commission initiated proceedings to determine whether there was reason to believe that the Committee failed to timely disclose certain receipts and disbursements on its 2020 12-Day Pre-General Report after the Committee amended the report to show $250,000 in receipts and $250,000 in disbursements that were not initially disclosed.
DISPOSITION: The Commission entered into a conciliation agreement providing for the Committee to pay a civil penalty of $14,000.

MUR 7971

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: Indiana Democratic Congressional Victory Committee and Jessica Garcia, in her official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
SUBJECT: In the normal course of exercising its supervisory responsibilities, the Commission initiated proceedings to determine whether there was reason to believe that the Committee failed to timely and accurately disclose $315,342.85 in disbursements on its 2020 12-Day Pre-General Report and $733,058.45 in disbursements on its 2020 30-Day Post-General Report.
DISPOSITION: The Commission entered into a conciliation agreement providing for the Committee to pay a civil penalty of $25,000.

MUR 7972

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: ProgressNow AZ – Federal and Darryl Tattrie, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
SUBJECT: In the normal course of exercising its supervisory responsibilities, the Commission initiated proceedings to determine whether there was reason to believe that the Committee failed to file or timely file eight 48-Hour Reports supporting 12 independent expenditures aggregating $754,443.45, and whether it failed to timely report $120,000 in debt incurred during the 2020 election cycle.
DISPOSITION: The Commission entered into a conciliation agreement providing for the Committee 1) to file 48-Hour Reports regarding two independent expenditures made between October 1 and October 14, 2020, totaling $125,220, which were first disclosed on the Committee’s 2020 12-Day Pre-General Report; and 2) to pay a civil penalty of $78,000.

MUR 8013

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENTS: Kristine Schanbacher for Congress and Kyle Seay, in his official capacity as Treasurer (the Committee)
SUBJECT: In the normal course of exercising its supervisory responsibilities, the Commission initiated proceedings to determine whether there was reason to believe the Committee failed to timely refund or redesignate $36,250 in 2020 general election contributions after the candidate’s loss in the primary election. Schanbacher was a 2020 candidate for Illinois’s 7th Congressional District of Illinois.
DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the matter.

MUR 7770 (Singh for Senate and Elizabeth Curtis, in her official capacity as Treasurer; Hirsh Singh; Shore News Network; Phil Stilton; and Recall Murphy/Conservative NJ On July 15, Chairman Dickerson and Commissioners Cooksey and Trainor issued a Statement of Reasons.

MUR 7784 (Make America Great Again PAC f/k/a Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. and Bradley T. Crate, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Trump Committee); Trump Make America Great Again Committee and Bradley T. Crate, in his official capacity as treasurer (the TMAGA Committee); American Made Media Holding Corporation, Inc.; American Made Media Consultants, LLC (AMMC); Parscale Strategy, LLC (Parscale Strategy); Sean Dollman; Kimberly Guilfoyle; Jared Kushner; Bradley J. Parscale; John Pence; and Lara Trump) On July 14, Commissioner Weintraub issued a Supplemental Statement of Reasons.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

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

ADR 1072

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: NC A Phillip Randolph Educational Fund Inc
SUBJECT: In the normal course of exercising its supervisory responsibilities, the Commission initiated proceedings to determine whether there was reason to believe the respondent failed to file one 48-Hour Report to support one independent expenditure totaling $158,708.60, originally disclosed on its 2020 October Quarterly Report.
DISPOSITION: The respondent agreed to 1) develop and certify implementation of a compliance operations manual which includes procedures for disclosing independent expenditures and internal controls; 2) complete an FEC training program; and 3) pay a civil penalty of $7,875.

Litigation

Campaign Legal Center v. FEC (Case Nos. 22-5140, 22-5167) On July 8, Plaintiff-Appellee filed a Motion for Summary Affirmance and Dismissal for Lack of Appellate Jurisdiction, and on July 12, Heritage Action for America filed a Reply in Support of Appellant’s Opposed Motion to Hold Appeals in Abeyance in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Campaign Legal Center v. FEC (Case No. 22-1976) On July 8, Plaintiff filed a Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Campaign Legal Center v. FEC (Case Nos. 22-5164, 22-5165) On July 11, 45Committee filed an Opposed Motion to Hold Appeals in Abeyance in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Campaign Legal Center, et al. v. FEC (Case No. 20-730) On July 14, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order, denying Plaintiffs’ motion for reconsideration.

Rulemaking and agency procedures

REG 2020-05 (Reporting Independent Expenditures). On July 15, the Commission made public one comment that was submitted on an interim final rule on reporting independent expenditures published in the Federal Register on June 14. The interim final rule is intended to comply with the decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which affirmed a district court decision holding that the disclosure regulation was invalid because it conflicted with the terms of the statute, which “mandate significantly more disclosure than that required by the challenged regulation.” The new interim final rule strikes 11 CFR 109.10(e)(1)(vi), the regulation that the court found to be inconsistent with the statute.

Press releases

FEC approves advisory opinion, extends deadline for comments (issued July 14)

Upcoming Commission meetings

July 26, 2022: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

July 28, 2022: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

Upcoming educational programs

July 27, 2022: The Commission will host an FECConnect OnTopic session on when to file 24- and 48-Hour Reports for Independent Expenditures.

For more information on upcoming training opportunities, see the Commission’s Trainings page.

Upcoming reporting due dates

July 15: July Quarterly Reports are due. For more information, see the 2022 Quarterly Reporting schedule.

July 20: July Monthly Reports are due. For more information, see the 2022 Monthly Reporting schedule.

Additional research materials

Contribution Limits. In addition to the current limits, the Commission has posted an archive of contribution limits that were in effect going back to the 1975-1976 election cycles.

2020 Presidential General Election Results and Federal Elections 2018: Election Results for the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives are available. The data was compiled from the official vote totals published by state election offices.

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.

The 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.

The Presidential Election Campaign Fund Tax Checkoff Chart provides information on balance of the Fund, monthly deposits into the Fund reported by the Department of the Treasury, payments from the Fund as certified by the FEC, and participation rates of taxpayers as reported by the Internal Revenue Service. For more information on the Presidential Public Funding Program, see the Public Funding of Presidential Elections page.

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

Other election-related resources

Videos on protecting U.S. elections. The FBI’s Protected Voices initiative provides videos designed to help political campaigns protect themselves from foreign influence. The 2019 videos offer guidance on ransomware, business email compromise, supply chain, social media literacy, and foreign influence operations. Other videos, released in 2018, include cyber hygiene topics such as social engineering, patching, router hardening, and app and browser safety.

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. The use of the agency’s logo, name, and likeness on other media has not been authorized by the FEC.