Week of August 31-September 4, 2020

Commission meetings and hearings

No open meetings or executive sessions were scheduled this week.

Enforcement

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

MUR 7048

COMPLAINANT: Crystal K. Perkins, Texas Democratic Party
RESPONDENTS: Cruz for President and Bradley S. Knippa, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee); Stand for Truth, Inc. and D. Eric Lycan, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Super PAC); Senator Rafael Edward “Ted” Cruz; and J. Keet Lewis
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that the Committee and Cruz, through Lewis, an agent, solicited unlimited and corporate contributions to the Super PAC, an independent expenditure-only political committee, in violation of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended (the Act). The complaint further alleged that the Committee and the Super PAC violated Commission regulations by failing to establish a joint fundraising committee. Cruz was a 2016 primary candidate for president.
DISPOSITION: On April 9, 2019, the Commission found reason to believe the Committee had impermissibly solicited nonfederal funds through its agent Lewis, who had spoken at a fundraising event for the Committee and made a solicitation for unlimited or corporate funds to the Super PAC. The Commission found no reason to believe the Committee or the Super PAC violated Commission regulations by failing to establish a joint fundraising committee because while Lewis, as an agent of the Committee, had solicited funds for both the Committee and the Super PAC at a single fundraising event, there was no evidence that the two committees engaged in a joint fundraising effort such as, for example, through contributors issuing a single payment to be split between them. On August 6, 2020, the Commission dismissed the allegations that Cruz and Lewis had violated the Act’s fundraising restrictions and accepted a conciliation agreement providing for the Committee to pay a civil penalty of $13,000.

Regulations and agency procedures

REG 2020-02 (Transfers from Candidate’s Authorized Committee) On September 1, the Commission made public eight comments that were received on a Rulemaking Petition regarding transfers from a candidate’s authorized committee to a national political party committee.

Litigation

Campaign Legal Center, et al. v. FEC (Case No. 19-2336) On August 31, Intervenors Hillary for American and Correct the Record filed a Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support of Intervenors’ Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment and in Opposition to Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

FEC v. Rivera (Case No. 17-22643) On August 31, the Commission filed a Memorandum in Support of its Motion for Summary Judgment and Defendant Rivera filed a Reply to the Commission’s Memorandum in Opposition to Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Outreach

On September 1-2, the Commission hosted webinars on independent expenditures and pre-election communications.

On September 3, Commissioner Ellen L. Weintraub presented opening remarks via Zoom about the biggest threats facing the upcoming presidential election at an event presented by the National Press Club.

Commissioners’ statements

On September 2, Chair James E. “Trey” Trainor III issued a Statement on the Dangers of Procedural Disfunction.

Upcoming Commission meetings

September 22, 2020: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

Upcoming reporting due dates

September 20: September Monthly reports are due. For more information on monthly reporting dates, refer to the 2020 Monthly Reporting page of the Commission website.

Upcoming educational programs

September 23-24, 2020: The Commission will host reporting and FECFile webinars for candidates, PACs and political party committees.

Additional information is available on the Educational Outreach page of the Commission website.

Updated election dates

For the latest reporting updates, please visit the Commission’s Dates and deadlines web page.

Status of agency operations

See the Commission’s statement on the status of agency operations, updated on August 10, 2020. At this stage, most agency staff remain in telework status and the Commission’s office remains closed to visitors.

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.

Federal Elections 2018: Election Results for the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives is 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 2019 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 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 at this time. The use of the agency’s logo, name, and likeness on other media has not been authorized by the FEC.