FEC v. Morgan
On December 5, 2007, the Commission filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against Jamie Jacob Morgan for failure to comply with the terms of a conciliation agreement Mr. Morgan entered into with the Commission on April 20, 2007.
Background
Jamie Morgan was a Republican candidate for Congress in 2002 and the de facto treasurer of his campaign committee, Morgan for Congress (the Committee). On April 20, 2007, Mr. Morgan entered into a conciliation agreement with the Commission for knowing and willful violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act (the Act). See the June 2007 Record, page 1. In the conciliation agreement, Mr. Morgan admitted to filing several disclosure reports with the Commission containing inflated and fictitious receipts, disbursements and other inaccuracies. He reported over $100,000 of fictitious receipts, as well as $190,000 of fictitious disbursements from his campaign. He also intentionally concealed $62,000 of contributions from his father. Mr. Morgan admitted to additional knowing and willful violations of the Act and Commission regulations, including violating reporting requirements (2 U.S.C. §434(b)), accepting excessive contributions (2 U.S.C. §441a(f)), accepting contributions in the name of another (2 U.S.C. §441f), commingling campaign funds with personal funds (2 U.S.C. §432(b)(3)) and falsely terminating the Committee (11 CFR 102.3).Complaint
The Commission asserts in the complaint that Mr. Morgan has not paid any portion of the $60,000 civil penalty agreed to in the conciliation agreement. Under the terms of the agreement, Mr. Morgan was to pay the penalty in three installments of $20,000, due 30, 60 and 90 days following the April 20, 2007, effective date of the agreement.
Relief
The Commission requests that the court:
- Declare that Mr. Morgan violated the conditions of the conciliation agreement;
- Order Mr. Morgan to pay the $60,000 civil penalty;
- Enjoin Mr. Morgan from violating the provisions of the agreement in the future;
- Require Mr. Morgan to pay interest on the civil penalty until he has fully paid; and
- Award any other relief that the court finds appropriate.
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, 1:07-cv-02196.