Week of May 22 – May 26, 2017

Commission meetings and hearings

• On May 23 and 25, the Commission held an executive session.
• On May 25, the Commission held an open meeting.
  

Advisory opinions

Advisory Opinion issued

Advisory Opinion 2017-02 (War Chest, LLC)

 On May 25, the Commission issued an advisory opinion in response to a request from War Chest, LLC. The Commission concluded that the requestor may provide political committees with a web-based deposit program but that the political committees participating in the program may not use the requestor’s trust account or sub-investment money market accounts as campaign depositories. Political committees participating in the program would deposit funds into an account; the funds would subsequently be transferred to money market deposit accounts at banks insured with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

Request Received

Advisory Opinion Request 2017-04 (Lancman for Congress)

 On May 25, the Commission made public Advisory Opinion Request 2017-04 (Lancman for Congress). The requestors are 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 ask whether the committee may accept a transfer of certain funds from Mr. Lancman’s state campaign committee in order to retire the federal committee’s outstanding debt. The Commission will accept written comments on the request during the 10-day period following publication of the request (no later than June 5) and must issue a response no later than 60 days after the receipt of the complete request, that is, by July 17, 2017.

Enforcement

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

MUR 7040

• COMPLAINANT: American Democracy Legal Fund
  
• RESPONDENT: Bernie 2016 and Susan Jackson, in her official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
  
• SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that the Committee accepted excessive contributions. Bernie Sanders was a 2016 primary candidate for United States President.
  
• DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the matter. The Commission observed that the great majority of excessive contributions were refunded or reattributed within 120 days, and that the amount of remaining excessive contributions was small.
  

MUR 7128

• COMPLAINANT: Matthew J. Kenney
  
• RESPONDENT: KelliPAC and Doug McKee, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
  
• SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that the Committee failed to timely file 24- or 48-Hour Reports for independent expenditures supporting Kelli Ward, a 2016 primary candidate for Arizona’s United States Senate seat.
  
• DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the matter. The Commission observed that the Committee was established only recently, had not filed any prior 24- or 48-Hour Reports, promptly filed the reports when it was advised that they were required, and disclosed the expenditures in question before the primary election.
  

Administrative fines

The Commission made public six 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 3125 -  Ernie Rivera for Florida and Alan K. Geer, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $9,694.

• AF 3131 -  Maxwell for Congress and Chip Maxwell, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $1,157.

• AF 3144 - Conservative Action Fund and Dan Backer, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission voted to terminate the proceedings for the purpose of closing the file.

• AF 3146 - Committee to Defend the President and Dan Backer in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission voted to terminate the proceedings for the purpose of closing the file.

• AF 3149  - Conservative Action Fund and Dan Backer, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission voted to terminate the proceedings for the purpose of closing the file.

• AF 3151 - Committee to Defend the President and Dan Backer in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission voted to terminate the proceedings for the purpose of closing the file.

Audits

• Audit Division Recommendation Memorandum on Ted Cruz for Senate. - Prior to the May 25 open meeting, the Commission approved on tally an Audit Division Recommendation Memorandum on Ted Cruz for Senate, covering financial activity between January 18, 2011, and December 31, 2012. The memorandum disclosed a finding and recommendation related to the reporting and disclosure of candidate loans.
  
• Resubmission: Audit Division Recommendation Memorandum on the Colorado Republican Committee. - On May 25, the Commission approved the resubmitted Audit Division Recommendation Memorandum on the Colorado Republican Committee, covering financial activity between January 1, 2011, and December 31, 2012, as amended at the table. The memorandum disclosed findings and recommendations related to the misstatement of financial activity, reporting of apparent independent expenditures, recordkeeping for communications, and failure to itemize debts and obligations.
  

Litigation

• Republican Party of Louisiana, et al. v. FEC (Case 16-865). - On May 22, the United States Supreme Court affirmed the three-judge court opinion of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
  

Rulemaking and agency procedures

• REG 2014-10, Implementing the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015, and REG 2016-03, Political Party Rules. On May 25, the Commission directed the Office of General Counsel to commence drafting a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking with respect to political parties, in response to two petitions for rulemaking and a resolution introduced by Commissioner Lee E. Goodman.
  

Commissioner statements

At the start of the May 25 open meeting, Chairman Steven T. Walther noted that, in view of external events, questions have been raised with respect to the role of the Commission concerning allegations of foreign influence in the American political process. The Chairman asked the Staff Director and other members of the staff to develop a web portal that will assemble all campaign finance information, advisory opinions, enforcement matters, and existing educational materials in this area in order to facilitate a better understanding by members of the public. He also noted that the Commissioners unanimously agreed last September to direct the Office of General Counsel “to prioritize cases involving allegations of foreign influence.” He also called upon the Office of General Counsel and other Commission staff to apply their resources, including providing adequate staffing, to continue to fulfill that priority and to further the agency’s regulatory, educational, and enforcement work in this area.

Outreach

On May 24, Commissioner Ellen L. Weintraub and Senior Public Affairs Specialist Jason Bucelato discussed the role and work of the Commission with students from Villanova University.

IT initiatives

On May 25, FEC.gov went live to provide the public with easier access to campaign finance information. Users can still view an archive copy of the previous website at classic.FEC.gov. Use our anonymous feedback tool (on each page on the new site) or email webmanager@fec.gov.

Press releases

• Supreme Court Affirms Three-Judge District Court Opinion in Republican Party of Louisiana, et al. v. FEC (issued May 22)
  
• FEC Approves Amended Audit Division Recommendation Memorandum, Approves Advisory Opinion, and Agrees to Commence Work on Party Rulemaking (issued May 25)
  

Upcoming Commission meetings and hearings

• June 6: The Commission is scheduled to hold an executive session.
  
• June 8: 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

June 7: Candidate Committee Webinar. 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 May Record newsletter. 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.