Week of April 3-7, 2023

Commission meetings and hearings

On April 6, the Commission met in executive session.

Enforcement

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

MURs 7944 and 7945

COMPLAINANT: Suzanne Jones
RESPONDENTS: Kim Klacik for Congress and Bradley T. Crate, in his official capacity as treasurer (Klacik Committee); Kimberly Klacik; Red Renaissance, Inc. and Bradley T. Crate, in his official capacity as treasurer (Red Renaissance); Pearl Events, LLC (Pearl Events); and Fox & Lion Communications LLC (Fox & Lion)
SUBJECT: The complaints alleged that Klacik and the Klacik Committee converted campaign funds to personal use by (1) making a charitable donation to her daughter’s school and (2) routing excessive campaign funds through two vendors, Pearl Events and Fox & Lion. The complaint in MUR 7944 also alleged that the Klacik Committee and Red Renaissance failed to report expenditures for Klacik’s daughter’s travel, and the complaint in MUR 7945 alleged further that (1) Klacik and Red Renaissance were using campaign funds to pay for the rent of a personal television studio for Klacik, (2) Klacik was continuing to refer to herself and raise funds as “Maryland’s District 7 Republican Nominee,” and (3) Klacik was raising funds by claiming to have lost the election based on “election fraud.” Klacik was a 2020 candidate for Maryland’s 7th Congressional District, and founder and president of Red Renaissance, a nonconnected political action committee.
DISPOSITION: The Commission found no reason to believe that (1) the respondents converted campaign funds to personal use, (2) the Klacik Committee and Red Renaissance violated reporting requirements regarding Klacik’s daughter’s travel expenses, or (3) Klacik, the Klacik Committee and Red Renaissance accepted excessive contributions after the 2020 general election because the available information did not support the allegations.

MUR 7980

COMPLAINANT: L.J. Foley
RESPONDENTS: Deborah Adeimy; Deborah Adeimy for Congress and David Satterfield, in his official capacity as Treasurer (the Committee)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged the Committee failed to include an adequately sized disclaimer on a campaign mailer. Adeimy was a 2022 candidate for Florida’s 22nd Congressional District.
DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the matter.

MUR 8094

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: Brady PAC and Jeanne Connelly, in her 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 report debt totaling $637,615 on its original 2020 30-Day Post-General Report.
DISPOSITION: The Commission entered into a conciliation agreement providing for the Committee to pay a civil penalty of $14,000.

Litigation

Campaign Legal Center v. FEC (Case No. 22-3319) On March 31, the Commission filed a Reply in Support of Its Motion to Dismiss in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Regulations and agency procedures

REG 2021-01 (Candidate Salaries) On March 31, the Commission made public additional comments and supplemental information that it received in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on candidate salaries, published in the Federal Register on December 12, 2022, and its public hearing held on March 22, 2023.

Outreach

On April 3, the Commission issued the Statistical Summary of 24-Month Campaign Activity of the 2021-2022 Election Cycle.

Employment opportunities

The Commission is accepting applications for the position of Attorney-Advisor in the Policy division of the Office of General Counsel through April 24, 2023. For more information, see the job posting at https://www.usajobs.gov/job/716531200.

The FEC is accepting applications for the position of Office of General Counsel’s Supervisory Attorney Advisor in the Enforcement Division (Assistant General Counsel for the docketing team) through April 26, 2023. For more information, see the job posting at https://www.usajobs.gov/job/717432300.

Upcoming Commission meetings and hearings

April 18-19, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

April 19, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

Upcoming educational programs

April 11-12, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to host a webinar for trade associations and their PACs

April 19, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to host an FECConnect OnTopic session Navigating FEC Website Resources.

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.

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

Upcoming reporting due dates

April 15: April Quarterly Reports are due. For more information, see the 2023 Quarterly Reporting schedule.

April 20: April 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.