Week of July 30– August 3, 2018

Commission meetings and hearings

• On July 31, the Commission met in executive session.
  
• On August 2, the Commission held an open meeting.
  

Advisory Opinions

Advisory Opinion Issued

Advisory Opinion Request 2018-10 (United Utah Party Candidate Committee). On August 2, the Commission approved an advisory opinion in response to a request from the United Utah Party Candidate Committee (UUP) regarding its status. The opinion concluded that UUP qualifies as a state committee of a political party. A state party organization not affiliated with a national political party qualifies as a state committee of a political party if three criteria are met: (1) the state party organization itself must qualify as a political party; (2) the state party organization itself must possess an official party structure; and (3) the state party organization must be responsible for the day-to-day operation of the party at the state level.

Advisory Opinion Considered

Advisory Opinion Request 2018-08 (Congressman Darrell Issa). On August 2, the Commission discussed an advisory opinion request from Congressman Darrell Issa, who asked whether he could reactivate his previous committee for the U.S. Senate, which was administratively terminated in 2005, and use funds from his principal campaign committee to repay a portion of the personal loans he had made to the Senate committee in 1998. The Commission voted on a draft advisory opinion but did not approve the draft by the requisite four votes.

Enforcement

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

MUR 7338

• COMPLAINANT: American Democracy Legal Fund
  
• RESPONDENTS: Rick for Congress and Brenda Hankins in her official capacity as treasurer (Federal Committee); Friends of Rick Saccone and Nicolas Racculia in his official capacity as treasurer (State Committee); and Rick Saccone
  
• SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that Saccone’s State Committee made expenditures that were related to Saccone’s federal candidacy, including a full-page newspaper ad and a transfer of funds from the State Committee to the Federal Committee. Saccone was a candidate for the 2018 special election in the Pennsylvania’s 18^th Congressional District.
  
• DISPOSITION: Noting the relatively modest amounts at issue and remedial actions undertaken by the Committee, the Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the matter in furtherance of Commission priorities relative to other enforcement matters.

Litigation

• Committee to Defend the President v. FEC (Case No. 18-888). On July 27, the Commission filed a Reply in Support of Defendant Federal Election Commission’s Motion to Dismiss in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
  
• CREW v. FEC (Case No. 17-5049). On July 27, Plaintiffs-Appellants filed a Petition for Rehearing En Banc in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
  

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 863

• COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
  
• RESPONDENTS: Americans Deserve Better PAC, Inc. and Geoffrey Neale in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
  
• SUBJECT: The Committee failed to timely file two 48-hour reports supporting 22 different independent expenditures totaling $112,158.81 that it later disclosed on the 2016 September Monthly report.
  
• DISPOSITION: The Committee agreed to work with Commission staff to satisfy its reporting obligations prior to the Committee’s termination and to pay a civil penalty of $2,000.
  

Press Releases

• FEC Approves Advisory Opinion (issued August 2)
  

Upcoming Commission meetings and hearings

• August 7, 2018: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.
  

Meeting dates are subject to change. Please contact the Press Office the week of the scheduled meeting for confirmation.

Upcoming reporting due dates

• August 20: August Monthly Reports are due. For more information on monthly reporting dates, refer to the 2018 Monthly Reporting page of the Commission website.
  

Upcoming Educational Outreach

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

Additional research materials

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

Printed copies of the 2018 edition of Title 11 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) are now available. Contact the Commission's Information Division at (202) 694-1100 or (800) 424-9530 (press 6, when prompted) to order printed copies of the CFR at no charge. You may also email the Information Division to place an order at info@fec.gov.

The 2017 Campaign Guide for Corporations and Labor Organizations is available. Other Campaign Guides are available, as well.

The 2018 Congressional Primary Election Dates list is available.

Federal Elections 2016: Election Results for the U.S. President, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives is available. The data was compiled from the official vote totals published by state election offices. To order a printed copy, please contact the FEC’s Public Records Office at 800/424-9530 (option 2) or 202/694-1120, or send an email to pubrec@fec.gov.

The 2017 edition of 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.

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.