Week of August 7 – August 11, 2017

Commission meetings and hearings

No Commission open meetings or executive sessions were scheduled this week.

Enforcement

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

MURs 6724 and 7089

• COMPLAINANTS: Peter Waldron and Office of Congressional Ethics referral
  
• RESPONDENTS: Bachmann for President and Nancy H. Watkins, in her official capacity as treasurer (the Committee); Many Individual Conservatives helping Elect Leaders Everywhere and Barry Arrington, in his official capacity as treasurer (MichelePAC); C&M Strategies, Inc.; Guy Short; Kent Sorenson; and National Fiscal Conservative PAC and Gerald Weygandt, in his official capacity as treasurer
  
• SUBJECT: The complaint and a referral from the Office of Congressional Ethics alleged that the Committee failed to properly disclose its disbursements, knowingly accepted excessive in-kind contributions, and failed to properly disclose those contributions. The complaint also alleged that MichelePAC failed to properly disclose disbursements and made excessive in-kind contributions. The complaint and referral alleged that Sorenson had accepted payments from MichelePAC and the Committee that were routed through C&M Strategies, Inc. to avoid disclosing that Sorenson was the intended recipient, and that Short had knowingly accepted an excessive in-kind contribution made for the benefit or use of a candidate. Michelle Bachman was a 2012 primary candidate for President.
  
• DISPOSITION: The Commission agreed to enter into conciliation agreements providing for the Committee and MichelePAC each to pay a civil penalty of $17,500. The Commission found no reason to believe Sorenson failed to report payments from MichelePAC or the Committee because he was not obligated to disclose them. The Commission found no reason to believe Short accepted an excessive in-kind contribution on behalf of the Committee, because there is no Commission precedent for imposing liability on an officer or employee of a committee unless that person was the candidate who was benefiting from the contributions. The Commission took no action as to C&M Strategies, Inc. The Commission found no reason to believe Watkins in her individual capacity committed a violation.
  

MUR 7192

• COMPLAINANT: Jim Pio
  
• RESPONDENTS: Brendan Boyle; Citizens for Boyle and Lindsay F. Angerholzer, in her official capacity as treasurer (the Committee); Kevin Boyle; and Friends of Kevin Boyle (state committee)
  
• SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that Brendan Boyle and the Committee solicited funds on behalf of Kevin Boyle and the state committee without providing information on the limitations and prohibitions of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended (the Act). Brendan Boyle was a 2016 candidate for Pennsylvania’s 13^th Congressional District.
  
• DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the matter in consideration of Commission priorities. The Commission observed that the amount of the contributions at issue was de minimis and that the respondents had provided information suggesting that those contributions did not violate the Act’s source prohibition and amount limitations.
  

Administrative fines

The Commission made public one campaign finance enforcement matter that was resolved through its Administrative Fines (AF) program, as follows. For more information, see the case documents in the Enforcement Query System.

AF 3312

Soules for US Congress and Laura Garcia, in her official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $326.

Litigation

• CREW, et al. v. FEC (Case 1:17-cv-01576). On August 4, the Center for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and Noah Bookbinder filed a Complaint for Injunctive and Declaratory Relief in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
  
• CREW v. FEC (Case 1:16-cv-02255-CRC). On August 8, the Commission filed its Motion for Summary Judgment in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. On the same day, the Intervenor-Defendant American Action Network also filed a Motion for Summary Judgment.
  
• CREW, et al. v. FEC (Case 17-5049). On August 10, the Appellants filed a Reply Brief in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
  

Upcoming Commission meetings and hearings

• August 15: The Commission is scheduled to hold an executive session.
  
• August 17: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting and executive session.
  
• Meeting dates are subject to change. Please contact the Press Office the week of the scheduled meeting for confirmation.
  

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Upcoming educational programs

• August 30-31: Chicago Regional Conference for candidates, parties and separate segregated funds. Additional information is available on the Educational Outreach page of the Commission website.
  

Upcoming reporting due dates

• August 20: August Monthly Reports are due. For more information on monthly reporting dates, refer to the 2017 Monthly Reporting page of the Commission website.
  

Additional research materials

The Official 2016 Presidential General Election Results are available in the Library section of the website. This listing was compiled from the official vote totals published by state election offices.

Additional research materials about the agency, campaign finance information, and election results are available through the Library section of the Commission website.

The 2017 edition of the Combined Federal State Disclosure and Election Directory is available on the new Commission website. 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.

The 2017 edition of Title 11 of the Code of Federal Regulations can be downloaded from the website. To order printed copies, call (800) 424-9530 (press 6) or send an email to info@fec.gov.