Week of April 24-28, 2023

Commission meetings and hearings

No open meetings or executive sessions were scheduled this week.

Advisory Opinions

Draft Advisory Opinion

Advisory Opinion Request 2023-03 (Colorado Republican State Central Committee) On April 27, the Commission made public a draft advisory opinion.

Enforcement

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

MUR 8047

COMPLAINANT: Max Maxfield
RESPONDENT: Charles Gray; Citizens for Chuck Gray and Jean Kordenbrock, in her official capacity as treasurer (the Committee); and Jan Charles Gray
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that the candidate loans that the Committee reported receiving in the amount of $298,318 were actually contributions from the candidate’s father, made in the name of another, and that these contributions exceeded the individual contribution limit. Charles Gray was a 2022 candidate for Wyoming’s At-Large Congressional District.
DISPOSITION: The Commission found no reason to believe there was any violation of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended (the Act), because the record established that the candidate used his own personal funds to make the candidate loans.

MUR 8067

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: UtePAC and Skyler Massy, in his official capacity as treasurer (UtePAC)
SUBJECT: In the normal course of exercising its supervisory responsibilities, the Commission initiated proceedings to determine whether there was reason to believe UtePAC misstated financial activity, understated total receipts and disbursements, made cash disbursements, failed to maintain records to support disbursements, and failed to correctly disclose disbursements in certain reports filed in 2018-2020.
DISPOSITION: The Commission entered into a conciliation agreement providing for the Committee to pay a civil penalty of $17,000.

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 1094

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: Sagebrush Rebellion PAC and Catharine Porter O’Neill, in official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
SUBJECT: In the normal course of exercising its supervisory responsibilities, the Commission initiated proceedings to determine whether there was reason to believe the Committee failed to timely file three 24-Hour Reports totaling $79,824.15 to support six independent expenditures disclosed on its 2022 July Quarterly Report.
DISPOSITION: The Committee agreed to participate in an FEC training program and pay a civil penalty of $6,000.

Commissioner statements

On April 25, Chair Dara Lindenbaum issued a Statement Concerning the Commission’s Direction to the Press Office Concerning the Acknowledgement of Complaints.

Regulations and agency procedures

On April 25, the Commission published a Notification of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Commission and the Department of Justice (DOJ) in the Federal Register.

On April 27, the Commission made public a memo and four drafts of documents that set forth a new audit process for political committees that do not receive public funds and revise other procedures to conform with the proposed audit procedure. The goal of the new audit process is to balance efficiency, procedural protections for audited committees, orderly development of the law, transparency, and encouraging voluntary compliance with the Act. The Commission welcomes public comment submitted by email to audit2023@fec.gov.

Public Disclosure

On April 24, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) issued a report: Audit Report of the Federal Election Commission’s Human Capital Management Program for Fiscal Year 2022.

The Commission has debuted its 2024 Presidential Map, listing data for presidential candidates who have reported more than $100,000 in receipts from sources outside of the candidate’s own funds. The map displays each candidate's overall receipts, including contributions from the candidate, individuals, and other political committees, as well as transfers from the candidates’ prior federal campaigns.

Upcoming Commission meetings and hearings

May 2, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

May 4, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

May 16, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

May 18, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

Upcoming educational programs

May 2-3, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to host a webinar for political party committees.

May 16-17, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to host a webinar for candidate committees.

June 7, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to host a webinar for nonconnected PACs.

For more information on upcoming training opportunities, see the Commission’s Trainings page.

Upcoming reporting due dates

May 20: May Monthly Reports are due. For more information, see the 2023 Monthly Reporting schedule.

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.

Federal Elections 2020: Election Results for the U.S. President, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives is now 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 Presidential Election Campaign Fund Tax Checkoff Chart provides information on balance of the Fund, monthly deposits into the Fund reported by the Department of the Treasury, payments from the Fund as certified by the FEC, and participation rates of taxpayers as reported by the Internal Revenue Service. For more information on the Presidential Public Funding Program, see the Public Funding of Presidential Elections page.

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. The use of the agency’s logo, name, and likeness on other media has not been authorized by the FEC.