Week of February 15-19, 2021

Commission meetings and hearings

No open meetings or executive sessions were scheduled this week.

Advisory Opinions

Draft opinions

Advisory Opinion Request 2021-02 (FEN-PAC) On February 18, the Commission made public a draft advisory opinion. FEN-PAC, an independent expenditure-only committee, asks whether it and its donors may provide Members of Congress and/or federal candidates’ authorized committees with certain aggregate information about its contributors.

Request received

Advisory Opinion Request 2021-04 (Pray.com) On February 19, 2021, the Commission made public Advisory Opinion Request 2021-04 from Pray.com, a for-profit corporation that operates a mobile application and website providing users with faith-based content. The requestor proposes to invite Members of Congress to produce five-minute audio and/or video statements discussing matters of faith that it will share with users of its digital platforms. The requestor asks whether this activity would result in a coordinated communication with, or corporate in-kind contribution to, participating federal candidates under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended (the Act), and Commission regulations. The Commission will accept written comments on the request during the 10-day period following publication of the request (no later than March 1, 2021) and must issue a response no later than 60 days after the receipt of the complete request, that is, by April 19, 2021.

Enforcement

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

MUR 7767

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENTS: Hall for Congress and David Gould, in his official capacity as Treasurer (the Committee)
SUBJECT: In the normal course of carrying out its supervisory responsibilities, the Commission initiated proceedings to determine whether there was reason to believe the Committee received excessive contributions totaling $61,683 and whether the Committee impermissibly spent general election contributions totaling $71,407 on primary election expenses during the 2016 campaign of Isadore Hall, a candidate from California’s 44th Congressional District.
DISPOSITION: The Commission entered into a conciliation agreement providing for the Committee to pay a civil penalty of $4,000, to refund or disgorge to the U.S. Treasury $17,183 in excessive contributions that the Committee received, and to provide evidence of the refunds or disgorgement.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

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

ADR 976

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: Free Forever Political Action Committee and Patrick Krason, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
SUBJECT: In the normal course of carrying out its supervisory responsibilities, the Commission initiated proceedings to determine whether there was reason to believe that the Committee failed to file one 48-Hour Report totaling $110,050.00 to support four independent expenditures disclosed on its 2020 April Quarterly Report.
DISPOSITION: The Committee agreed to 1) certify that the treasurer participated in an FEC training program; 2) certify closure of the Committee’s federal account, work with Commission staff to terminate the Committee’s reporting obligations, and file a Termination Report; and 3) pay a civil penalty of $5,500.

Litigation

Campaign Legal Center v. FEC (Case No. 21-406) On February 16, Plaintiffs filed a Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Level the Playing Field, et al. v. FEC (Case No. 20-649) On February 12, the Commission filed in the U.S. Supreme Court a Brief for the Respondent in Opposition to the Petition for a Writ of Certiorari.

Outreach

On February 19, Chair Shana M. Broussard and Vice Chair Allen Dickerson participated in Wiley Rein LLP’s annual seminar on election law.

Upcoming educational programs

March 3, 2021: The Commission will hold a webinar for corporations and their PACs.

March 24, 2021: The Commission will hold a webinar for membership and labor organizations and their PACs.

Upcoming Commission meetings

February 23, 2021: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

February 25, 2021: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting and meet in executive session.

Upcoming reporting due dates

February 20: February Monthly Reports are due. For more information, see the 2021 Monthly Reporting schedule.

Status of agency operations

See the Commission’s statement on the status of agency operations, updated on January 4, 2021. 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.

2020 Presidential General Election Results and Federal Elections 2018: Election Results for the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives are 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 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 currently. The use of the agency’s logo, name, and likeness on other media has not been authorized by the FEC.