Record civil penalties in first six months of 2006

During the first six months of 2006, FEC enforcement actions resulted in over $5 million in civil penalties, more than any full year in the Commission’s thirty-year history.

A large portion of the total came from the FEC’s conciliation agreement with the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“Freddie Mac”), in which Freddie Mac agreed to pay a civil penalty of $3.8 million—the largest civil penalty in FEC history.

The Commission also closed six other matters with penalties over $100,000 and eight matters with penalties of at least $50,000— more cases in this penalty range than any other similar period in recent years. The FEC closed a total of 130 matters in the first six months of 2006. Additionally, the Commission collected a $222,000 repayment of public funds improperly collected by the LaRouche campaign.

Violations in these cases included prohibited contributions from corporations and labor organizations, excessive contributions from individuals, contributions in the name of another, use of corporate funds to reimburse employee contributions, and illegal corporate facilitation of political contributions.

Summaries of each FEC enforcement action can be found on the FEC website.