Week of August 15-19, 2022

Commission meetings and hearings

No open meetings or executive sessions were scheduled this week.

Advisory Opinions

Advisory Opinion 2022-07 (Swalwell) On August 15, Chairman Allen J. Dickerson and Commissioner Shana M. Broussard issued a Statement.

Advisory Opinion 2022-10 (Sprinkle) On August 16, Chairman Dickerson issued a Statement.

Enforcement

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

MUR 7808

COMPLAINANT: End Citizens United, Tiffany Mueller
RESPONDENTS: John James for Senate, Inc. and Timothy Caughlin, in his official capacity as treasurer (James Committee); John E. James; Renaissance Global Logistics, LLC; and Outsider PAC and Julie Dozier in her official capacity as treasurer (Outsider PAC)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that James, a 2018 candidate for Michigan’s United States Senate seat and Chief Executive Officer of RGL, improperly authorized the spending of corporate funds when RGL made a $10,000 contribution to Outsider PAC, an independent expenditure-only political committee. The complaint further alleged that James and Outsider PAC coordinated a communication, resulting in a prohibited contribution to the James Committee, when Outsider PAC paid $8,000 for an advertisement attacking James’s opponent on the same day it received the RGL contribution.
DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the allegations. The Commission observed the relatively low amount of the alleged contribution to Outsider PAC, and that the $8,000 advertisement at issue did not appear to meet the conduct prong of the Commission’s test for determining whether it was a coordinated communication as there was no information to suggest that Outsider PAC paid for the communication at the request or suggestion of James.

MUR 7911

COMPLAINANT: Gula Graham Group (GGG)
RESPONDENTS: Rodney for Congress and Thomas Charles Datwyler, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee); and Restoring Our Democracy (ROD PAC) and Thomas Charles Datwyler, in his official capacity as treasurer
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that the Committee and ROD PAC failed to reimburse and compensate GGG for over $33,000 in fundraising and consulting costs, resulting in an unintended extension of credit that was not in the ordinary course of business. The complaint alleged further that the committees inaccurately reported these debts as disputed.
DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the matter.

MUR 7915

COMPLAINANT: Jay Stone
RESPONDENTS: When We All Vote (WWAV); Civic Nation; and Andrew Amore, Selena Gomez, Tom Hanks, Erin Hannigan, Faith Hill, Valerie Jarrett, Liza Koshy, Kyle Lierman, Laura Miller, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Janelle Monáe, Michelle Obama, Chris Paul, Megan Rapinoe, Shonda Rhimes, Tracee Ellis Ross, Pete Rouse, Tina Tchen, Kerry Washington, Rita Wilson, and Stephanie Young (collectively, Individual Respondents)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that WWAV, a formerly independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that was acquired after the 2020 election by Civic Nation, another 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, failed to register and report as a political committee in spite of its purported work to influence a federal election. The complaint further alleged that the individual respondents associated with WWAV may have made contributions to committees associated with the Democratic Party and its candidates or expressly advocated for the election or defeat of particular candidates during the 2020 election cycle.
DISPOSITION: The Commission found no reason to believe that WWAV or its parent Civic Nation violated the Act by failing to register and report as a political committee because the available information did not demonstrate that WWAV exceeded the Act’s $1,000 contribution or expenditure threshold for becoming a political committee. The Commission also found no reason to believe that the individual respondents violated the Act because the complaint did not allege cognizable violations by them, and because they had no individual liability for any potential WWAV reporting violations.

MUR 7921

COMPLAINANT: Scott Hogan
RESPONDENTS: Earl L. “Buddy” Carter; and Buddy Carter for Congress and Paul Kilgore, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that Carter was a candidate for Georgia’s United States Senate seat in 2021, but failed to file a Statement of Candidacy with the Commission. The complaint further alleged that the Committee failed to amend its Statement of Organization after Carter became a Senate candidate.
DISPOSITION: The Commission found no reason to believe that Carter failed to file a Statement of Candidacy or that the Committee failed to amend its Statement of Organization because the available information indicated that Carter did not appear to have become a candidate for U.S. Senate.

MUR 7930

COMPLAINANT: Jordan Moskowitz
RESPONDENTS: Minocqua Brewing Company SuperPAC and Kirk Bangstad, in his official capacity as treasurer (MBC PAC); Minocqua Brewing Company LLC (MBC); Sarah Yacoub; and Kirk Bangstad
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that MBC, MBC PAC, Bangstad, and Yacoub, the Executive Director of MBC PAC, violated the Act in several ways: 1) by advertising that five percent of MBC’s profits would be donated to the MBC SuperPAC, the Respondents acted as a conduit for unreported contributions from MBC patrons to MBC SuperPAC; 2) MBC SuperPAC violated the Act’s reporting requirements; 3) MBC SuperPAC failed to include a disclaimer on an email communication and on MBC SuperPAC’s website; and 4) Bangstand and MBC illegally made contributions to Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign committee by hanging a large “Biden Harris” banner on MBC’s building.
DISPOSITION: The Commission found no reason to believe that MBC and Bangstad made a prohibited in-kind contribution by displaying the “Biden Harris” sign, observing that there was no indication that this action was coordinated with any candidate or that MBC typically used its building as advertising space. The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the remaining allegations, observing that Commission records indicated that the funds ultimately contributed to MBC SuperPAC were drawn from MBC’s profits from the sale of its products in the ordinary course of its business, and that the dollar amounts at issue were low.

MUR 7937

COMPLAINANT: Scott Hogan
RESPONDENTS: Greene for Congress and Perry Greene, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Greene Committee); Marjorie Taylor Greene; Team Herschel, Inc. and Jason D. Bowles, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Walker Committee); and Herschel Walker
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that Greene and the Greene Committee made between approximately $3,100 and $4,200 in excessive and unreported in-kind contributions to Walker and the Walker Committee by producing and distributing digital advertisements on Facebook promoting Walker’s candidacy for U.S. Senate from Georgia in 2022. The complaint alleged that the ads expressly advocated for Walker’s candidacy and thus, if they were coordinated with Walker or his campaign, constituted in-kind contributions to his campaign committee. The complaint further alleged that neither Greene nor the Walker Committee reported the value of the ads’ in-kind contributions, and the failure to report the value of in-kind contributions appeared to be an attempt to provide additional support to Walker’s campaign above the contribution limits of the Act. The complaint further alleged that even if the ads did not meet the requirements for coordinated communications, they would still be subject to the Act’s reporting requirements for independent expenditures and that the Greene Committee failed to file the appropriate independent expenditure reports with the Commission. Greene is a 2022 candidate for Georgia’s 14th Congressional District.
DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the matter.

Audits

Final Audit Report of the Commission on the Association for Emergency Responders and Firefighters, PAC. On August 15, the Commission made public the Final Audit Report of the Commission on the Association for Emergency Responders and Firefighters, PAC, covering campaign finance activity between January 1, 2017 and December 31, 2018. The Commission approved a finding related to increased activity (corrected). The Commission included recordkeeping for disbursements and use of designated depository in the Additional Issues section.

Final Audit Report of the Commission on the US Veterans Assistance Foundation, PAC. On August 15, the Commission made public the Final Audit Report of the Commission on the US Veterans Assistance Foundation, PAC covering campaign finance activity between January 1, 2017 and December 31, 2018. The Commission approved findings related to misstatement of financial activity, increased activity, disclosure of occupation and name of employer, and failure to file 24/48-Hour Reports. The Commission included disclosure of disbursements and recordkeeping for disbursements and use of designated depository in the Additional Issues section.

Upcoming Commission meetings

August 30, 2022: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

August 31, 2022: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting and meet in executive session.

September 13, 2022: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

September 15, 2022: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting and meet in executive session.

Upcoming educational programs

September 7, 2022: The Commission will host a webinar on Independent Expenditures and Pre-Election Communications.

September 14, 2022: The Commission will host an FECConnect OnTopic session on navigating the website.

September 28, 2022: The Commission will host a reporting and FECFile webinar for PACs and party committees.

October 6, 2022: The Commission will host a reporting and FECFile webinar for candidate committees.

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 2022 Monthly Reporting schedule.

The Commission has posted the filing deadlines for the Indiana 2nd District Special Election. For more information on the reporting dates, see the Special Election Report Notice.

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.

2020 Presidential General Election Results and Federal Elections 2018: Election Results for the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives are 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.