Week of July 3 – July 7, 2017

Commission meetings and hearings

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

Advisory opinions

Draft

Advisory Opinion Request 2017-05 (Great America PAC and The Committee to Defend the President)

 On July 6, the Commission made public a draft of Advisory Opinion Request 2017-05 (Great America PAC and The Committee to Defend the President). The requestors are nonconnected political committees. They ask several questions with respect to the use of Twitter handles in disclaimers and whether disclaimers are required on Twitter pages.

Request, Supplement and Comment Received

Advisory Opinion Request 2017-07 (Sergeant at Arms)

On June 30, the Commission made public Advisory Opinion Request 2017-07 and a Supplement. The requestor asks whether Members of Congress may use campaign funds to pay for residential security upgrades. The Commission will accept written comments on the request during the 10-day period following publication of the request (no later than July 10) and must issue a response no later than 30 days after the receipt of the complete request, that is, by July 21, 2017. On July 6, the Commission made public a Draft and a Comment on the request.

Enforcement

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

MUR 7107

• COMPLAINANT: Randolph C. Lafferty
  
• RESPONDENTS: Progress United; and Progress United PAC and Joseph Aiken, in his official capacity as treasurer (the PAC)
  
• SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that the PAC failed to file 48-hour notices of independent expenditures related to web and radio ads, and that it did not include a proper disclaimer on these communications.
  
• DISPOSITION: The Commission found no reason to believe a violation occurred in connection with Progress United, a non-profit organization established under Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code, because there was no information indicating that (1) communications by Progress United mentioned a federal candidate, or (2) Progress United qualifies as a political committee. The Commission found no reason to believe as to the PAC because it does not appear that the PAC was responsible for the activity at issue in the complaint.
  

Administrative fines

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

AF 3163 

Carlos Beruff for Senate, Inc. and Eric Robinson, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination to terminate the proceedings and close the file.

AF 3171

Friends of Dena and Shawn Shahzad, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $7,518.

Litigation

CREW, et al. v. FEC (Case 17-5049). On July 5, the Campaign Legal Center and Demos filed an Amicus Curiae Brief in Support of Appellants in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Upcoming Commission meetings and hearings

• July 11: The Commission is scheduled to hold an executive session.
  
• July 13: 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.

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 mediums has not been authorized by the FEC.

Upcoming educational programs

July 12: FECFile Webinar for PACs and Party Committees. Additional information is available on the Educational Outreach page of the Commission website.

Upcoming reporting due dates

• July 15: July Quarterly Reports are due. For information on quarterly reporting dates, refer to the 2017 Quarterly Reporting page of the Commission website.
  
• July 20: July Monthly Reports are due. For more information on monthly reporting dates, refer to the 2017 Monthly Reporting page of the Commission website.
  
• July 31: Mid-Year reports are due. For more information on semiannual reporting dates, refer to the 2017 Semiannual 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 Commission has published the June Record, the last monthly publication of the newsletter. As of next month, The Record will be available solely as a continuously-updated online news source. Sign up to receive email notification when new Record articles are posted.

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.