Week of August 14 – 18, 2023

Commission meetings and hearings

No open meetings or executive sessions were scheduled this week.

Enforcement

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

MUR 7963

COMPLAINANT: Edward Harkins
RESPONDENTS: Salem for Congress and Zane Knight, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee); and Salem Snow
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that Snow and the Committee failed to file disclosure reports during the 2022 election cycle and failed to include the required disclaimer in three of their fundraising emails.
DISPOSITION: The Commission found no reason to believe that Snow failed to file disclosure reports or include the required disclaimer on fundraising emails because there was no information to indicate that Snow, who was not the treasurer, was personally responsible for the Committee’s alleged violations. The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the allegations concerning the Committee and sent a letter admonishing the Committee for the alleged violations. Snow was a registered candidate for Pennsylvania’s 2nd Congressional District during the 2022 election cycle but did not make the ballot for the primary.

MUR 8056

COMPLAINANT: End Citizens United
RESPONDENTS: Bob Healey for Congress and Ronald R. Gravino, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee); Viking Yacht Company (Viking); and Robert Healey, Jr.
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that Viking made prohibited in-kind corporate contributions to the 2022 congressional campaign of Healey, its chairman, and the Committee and that Viking and Healey violated the soft money restriction on entities established, financed, maintained, or controlled by a federal candidate using nonfederal funds in connection with an election for federal office. Specifically, the Complaint alleged that Viking, acting under the control of Healey, displayed images and messages on its website advocating for Healey’s election, and that Viking’s logo and facilities appear in a digital advertisement released by the Committee. Healey was a 2022 candidate for New Jersey’s 3rd Congressional District.
DISPOSITION: The Commission found no reason to believe Viking made and Healey and the Committee accepted an in-kind corporate contribution in the form of a coordinated communication. The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the remaining allegations. Commissioners Allen J. Dickerson and James E. “Trey” Trainor, III issued a Statement of Reasons.

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 1102

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: Jim Risch for U.S. Senate Committee and R. John Insinger, Esq., 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 Commission failed to timely resolve $58,000 in excessive contributions it received from individuals during the 2019-2020 election cycle.
DISPOSITION: The Committee agreed to 1) develop and certify implementation of a policy document detailing the Committee’s process to ensure receipts are timely reviewed and all excessive contributions are timely remedied, 2) participate in an FEC training, and 3) pay a civil penalty of $4,325.

Administrative Fines

The Commission made public 22 closed cases, as follows. For more information, see the case documents in the Administrative Fine Search System.

AF 4481 Defeat Republicans PAC and Sue Jackson, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $9,537.

AF 4482 Democracy on the Line and Sue Jackson, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $1,346.

AF 4483 Kansas City Southern Employee PAC and Barbara Blevins, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $748.

AF 4485 TeaPartyExpress.org and Kelly Lawler, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $8,564.

AF 4486 The Blue South PAC and Sue Jackson, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $7,948.

AF 4487 The Real Estate Roundtable Political Action Committee (REALPAC) and Jeffrey DeBoer, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $2,093.

AF 4489 Votesane PAC and James Williams, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $15,897.

AF 4511 Abiomed Inc Political Action Committee (Abiomed PAC) and Michael Dube, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $1,450.

AF 4512 Academy of Rail Labor Attorneys Political Action Committee and Michael Charles Gilliland, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $2,255.

AF 4513 American Association of Neurological Surgeons Political Action Committee (NeurosurgeryPAC) and Sepideh Amin-Hanjani, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $1,450.

AF 4514 Amsted Industries Incorporated PAC and Tristan Paige Lopez, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $2,537.

AF 4515 Clark PAC and George Parker Clark, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $1,450.

AF 4516 Emgage Federal Political Action Committee and Amin Mitha, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $538.

AF 4517 Gannett Fleming, Inc PAC and Jon H. Kessler, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $806.

AF 4518 Genesis Healthcare Inc PAC and Michael Sherman, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $966.

AF 4519 Hindus of Georgia PAC and Suresh Krishnamoorthy, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $2,255.

AF 4520 Lakeville Road Political Action Committee and Robert M. Werner, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $806.

AF 4521 Liberty Fund; The and Pamela Peiper, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $966.

AF 4522 Michigan Liberation Action Fund and Raiada Lanier, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $5,137.

AF 4523 North Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters Legislative Improvement Committee, United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners of America and Stephen Joyce, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $1,450.

AF 4524 North Carolina Farm Bureau Federation Pol Act Cmte Inc (AKA) NC Farm Bureau FarmPAC and Phillip Jacob Parker, Jr., in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $806.

AF 4525 Pakistani American Public Affairs Committee PAK-PAC and Saba Shabnam, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $1,450.

Regulations and agency procedures

Notification of Availability of Petition for Rulemaking on Artificial Intelligence in Campaign Ads. On August 16, the Commission published a Notification of Availability of a Petition for Rulemaking in the Federal Register. The Petition asks the Commission to amend its regulation on fraudulent misrepresentation of campaign authority to make clear that the related statutory prohibition applies to deliberately deceptive Artificial Intelligence (AI) campaign ads. The Commission is accepting public comment on the Petition through October 16, 2023. All comments must be in writing and commenters may submit comments electronically via the Commission’s website, reference REG 2023–02. Click the link that says Submit Comments on Ongoing Rulemakings and then click the yellow Add Comment button. All properly submitted comments, including attachments, will become part of the public record, and the Commission will make comments available for public viewing.

Agency Procedure Regarding Litigation. On August 17, the Commission published an agency procedure in the Federal Register regarding litigation under a provision of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended (the Act), that provides a cause for action for “any party aggrieved by an order of the Commission dismissing a complaint filed by such party… or by a failure of the Commission to act on such complaint.” The procedure provides that in any case where the Commission does not agree, by four or more affirmative votes, to defend an action brought under 52 U.S.C. § 30109(a)(8) alleging a failure of the Commission to act, or where the lack of a quorum prevents Commission action, the Office of General Counsel will 1) apprise the court that the Commission has not voted to defend the action, 2) inform the U.S. Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division that the Commission has not voted to defend the action, and 3) file, under seal, a copy of each vote certification, subject to appropriate redactions, concerning the underlying administrative complaint giving rise to the lawsuit at issue.

Litigation

FEC v. Rivera (Case No. 22-11437) On August 14, the Commission filed a Brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

Outreach

On August 16, Commissioner Shana M. Broussard discussed campaign finance disclosure rules and the role of the Commission with an international delegation visiting the United States as part of the State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program.

Employment opportunities

The virtual job fair that was scheduled for September 6 has been postponed to a later date. Please continue to monitor this page for the latest FEC vacancy announcements and job-related events.

Upcoming Commission meetings and hearings

August 29, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

August 30, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

September 12, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

September 14, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

Upcoming educational programs

August 30, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to host a Candidate 101 webinar.

September 27, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to host a full-day Seminar for Separate Segregated Funds at its headquarters in Washington, D.C. In-person attendance is limited, but virtual attendance is also available.

October 25, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to host a full-day Seminar for Candidate and Political Party Committees at its headquarters in Washington, D.C. In-person attendance is limited, but virtual attendance is also available.

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

Upcoming reporting due dates

August 20: August 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.

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.