Rev. David Lewicki and Vladimir Shklovsky v. FEC alleges failure to act on administrative complaint

On August 30, 2024, Rev. David Lewicki and Vladimir Shklovsky (plaintiffs) filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenging the Commission’s dismissal of their administrative complaint against American Coalition for Conservative Policies (“ACCP”) et al.

Background

Plantiffs filed an administrative complaint with the FEC on February 2, 2023 (amended November 14, 2023), alleging violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act (the Act) resulting from ACCP knowingly permitting its name to be used to effect a contribution in the name of another person. Specifically, the complaint alleged that AACP received approximately $5 million dollars from an unknown respondent(s) which was then passed through additional organizations, ultimately resulting in contributions to three independent expenditure-only political committees (Super PACs).

On June 24, 2024, the Commission failed by a 3-3 vote to find reason to believe that ACCP et. al. violated the Act. On July 3, 2024, the Commission voted to close the file.

The plaintiffs allege the FEC acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner, contrary to the law, in dismissal of the complaint, and seek injunctive and declaratory relief.

Resources

• Lewicky, et al. v. FEC litigation page