Week of June 12 – June 16, 2017

Commission meetings and hearings

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

Advisory opinions

Draft and request withdrawn

Advisory Opinion 2017-04 (Lancman for Congress)

On June 15, the Commission made public a draft of Advisory Opinion 2017-04, and on June 16, the requestor withdrew the request. The requestors were Rory Lancman, a member of the New York City Council and a former candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives, and Lancman for Congress, his authorized federal campaign committee. The requestors asked whether the committee may accept a transfer of certain funds from Lancman’s non-federal campaign committee in order to retire the federal committee’s outstanding debt.

Request received

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

On June 12, the Commission made public 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. The Commission must issue a response no later than 60 days after the receipt of the complete request, that is, by August 4, 2017.

Enforcement

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

MUR 7126

• COMPLAINANT: Self-Initiated
  
• RESPONDENT: Michigan Democratic State Central Committee and Sandy O’Brien, in her official capacity as treasurer (MDP)
  
• SUBJECT: MDP notified the Commission that it (1) failed to keep an itemized record of contributions, (2) failed to keep an itemized record of disbursements, (3) accepted anonymous cash contributions, (4) failed to deposit receipts in an account at a designated depository, (5) made prohibited cash disbursements, (6) understated total contributions and disbursements, and (7) reported inaccurate contributions and refunds
  
• DISPOSITION: The Commission entered into a conciliation agreement providing for MDP to pay a civil penalty of $500,000 and to institute a number of compliance measures.
  

MUR 7215

• COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
  
• RESPONDENT: Oklahoma Leadership Council and Peter Leo Hodges, 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 the Committee failed to maintain monthly payroll logs on a total of $178,305 in 2011 and 2012 to document the percentage of time each employee spent in connection with a federal election.
  
• DISPOSITION: The Commission entered into a conciliation agreement providing for the Committee to pay a civil penalty of $5,000.
  

Administrative fines

The Commission made public 27 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 3154

Dem CD Congress Central Valley and Loraine Goodwin, in her official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $401.

AF 3155

GCI PAC and Chris Nierman, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $1,157.

AF 3156 

Middle Class America PAC and Jim Broeking, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $698.

AF 3157

Millennials Rising PAC and Michelle Goodwin, in her official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $329.

AF 3158

Partnership Orange and Gianni Donates, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $54.

AF 3159

Pilgrims Alliance Party Committee and Abiodun Laurel-Smith, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission voted to assess no civil penalty and close the file.

AF 3160

Priorities for Iowa Political Fund and Sara Craig, in her official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $4,305.

AF 3161

Swing States for a Conservative White House PAC, Inc. and the Office of Treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $1,800.

AF 3162 

We Are Fearless and United and Kisha Mays, in her official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed no civil penalty.

AF 3164

Claitor for Congress and Chelsea Bonnecaze, in her official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $13,839.

AF 3165

Cowan for Congress, Inc. and Leigh Ann Gillis, in her official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $4,613.

AF 3166

Erin for Us and Jason Teramoto, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission voted to assess no civil penalty and close the file.

AF 3167 

Eugene for Congress and Eric Yu, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $1,157.

AF 3168

Fattah for Congress and Roger J. Jackson, Jr., in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $4,784.

AF 3169

Frazier for Colorado Inc. and Travis Martinez, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $321.

AF 3170

Friends of Corrine Brown and Gloria Simmons, in her official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $3,349.

AF 3172

Friends of Warren Christopher and Leticia Carroll Smith, in her official capacity as treasurer. The Commission voted to assess no civil penalty and close the file.

AF 3173

James Maloney for Congress and Ildi Ervin, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $1,157.

AF 3174

Maria for America 2016 and Timothy J. Lyng, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission voted to assess no civil penalty and close the file.

AF 3175

Mirza for Congress and Tara Marie Barbera, in her official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $44.

AF 3176 

Rangel for Congress and David A. Paterson, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $643.

AF 3177

Vogt for Maryland and David Vogt, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission voted to assess no civil penalty and close the file.

AF 3178

Vote Jerry Natividad for U.S. Senate and Vera Ortegon, in her official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $197.

AF 3179

Wilder for Senate and Lavon Rachelle Chattin, in her official capacity as treasurer. The Commission voted to assess no civil penalty and close the file.

AF 3181

Friends of Matt Detch and Michael Beale, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $771.

AF 3182

Misty K. Snow for U.S. Senate and Beverly Prothero, in her official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $271.

AF 3183 

Pellerin for U.S. Senate, LLC and Jennifer May, in her official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $643.

Litigation

• Center for Public Integrity v. FEC (Case 1:17-cv-01162-CRC). On June 14, the Center for Public Integrity filed a Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
  

Upcoming Commission meetings and hearings

• June 21: The Commission is scheduled to hold an executive session.
  
• June 22: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting and executive session.
  
• June 22: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open audit hearing on the Illinois Republican Party.
  

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

June 28: FECFile Webinar for Candidate Committees. Additional information is available on the Educational Outreach page of the Commission website.

Upcoming reporting due dates

June 20: June 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 latest edition of the Combined Federal State Disclosure and Election Directory is available in the Public Records section of the 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.