Week of August 16 - August 20, 2010

Weekly Digest

Week of August 16 – 20

COMMISSION MEETINGS

No Commission Executive Sessions or Open Meetings were scheduled this week.

ADVISORY OPINIONS

Drafts

AO 2010-15 (Pike for Congress). On August 19, the Commission made public a draft of Advisory Opinion 2010-15 (Pike for Congress). Pike for Congress asks whether Commission regulations permit a candidate''''s principal campaign committee to refund undesignated contributions made by the candidate before the primary, where the contributions were intended only for the general election and the candidate is not a candidate in that election. Comments on the draft are due by noon on August 25, 2010.

Request Received

AOR 2010-20 (National Defense PAC). On August 17, the Commission made public Advisory Opinion Request 2010-20.  National Defense PAC asks whether it may accept unlimited contributions from individuals, other political committees, corporations and unions to make independent expenditures, and whether it may accept these funds into a separate account of the PAC.  The request also concerns whether National Defense PAC may use these unlimited contributions to pay for the administrative and operating expenses of both its general operations, and any independent expenditures made from its separate account. The Commission must issue a response no later than 60 days after receipt of the complete request, or by October 15, 2010.

AOR 2010-21 (ReCellular, Inc.).  On August 20, the Commission made public Advisory Opinion Request 2010-21.  ReCellular purchases used cell phones from individual consumers, and currently allows consumers to donate their sale proceeds to charity through the ReCellular website.  ReCellular asks whether it may also allow consumers to donate their sale proceeds to political committees. The Commission must issue a response no later than 60 days after receipt of the complete request, or October 19, 2010.

Comment Received

AOR 2010-19 (Google). On August 18, the Commission received a comment on AOR 2010-19. In its request, Google asks whether text ads generated by its AdWords program are exempt from the disclaimer requirements of 11 CFR 110.11, under the "small items" exception. If they are not, Google asks whether displaying the URL of the ad''''s sponsor would satisfy the disclaimer requirement.

Advisory Opinions and Requests are available here.

ENFORCEMENT

The Commission made public one Statement of Reasons. For more information, see the case documents in the Enforcement Query System.

MUR 6002 (Freedom’s Watch). A Statement of Reasons was issued by Chairman Matthew S. Petersen and Commissioners Caroline C. Hunter and Donald F. McGahn.

AUDIT REPORTS

The Commission made public one Audit Report. A summary of the findings is below. Final Audit Reports are available here.

Bartlett for Congress Committee. On August 18, the Commission posted the Audit Report on the Bartlett for Congress Committee. The audit found misstatements of financial activity for 2007 and 2008. The Committee filed amended reports to correct the misstatements.

LITIGATION

Beam v. FEC. (formerly Beam v. Gonzales). On August 13, the Commission filed a Motion to Compel Compliance with Local Rule 83.12(b) in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The Commission asked the Court to compel the Plaintiffs to retain a member of the trial bar as counsel and notice that person’s appearance before the trial on this matter.

The Real Truth About Obama, Inc. v. Federal Election Commission. On August 16, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued a Mandate following the per curiam order (1) reissuing the parts of the Court''''s previous opinion stating the facts and the preliminary injunction standards and (2) remanding the case to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia for reconsideration of the remaining issues in light of the Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission and the Solicitor General''''s suggestion that two of those issues are moot.

Robinson Committee, LLC and Jack E. Robinson v. FEC. On August 9 in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, the Robinson Committee, LLC and Jack E. Robinson filed a Petition Pursuant to 2 U.S.C. 437g to Set Aside Final Determination of Violation. The petitioners ask the Court to set aside the Commission’s determination that they violated the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended (the Act), and Commission regulations, and to overturn the $6,050 civil penalty imposed by the Commission.

PRESS RELEASES

Federal Election Commission Announces Departure of General Counsel Thomasenia Duncan;

Christopher Hughey Designated as Acting General Counsel (issued August 19)

CAMPAIGN FINANCE REPORTS

August 16:  Louisiana Pre-Primary Reports were due. For information on reporting dates for this election, click here.

August 20: August Monthly Reports were due. For information on reporting dates, click here.

UPCOMING COMMISSION MEETINGS

August 24: The Commission is scheduled to hold an Executive Session.

August 26: The Commission is scheduled to hold an Open Session. When the Commission releases an agenda, it will be available here.

UPCOMING REPORTING DUE DATES

August 23:  Guam Pre-Primary Reports are due. For information on reporting dates for this election, click here.

UPCOMING EVENTS

September 15, Washington, DC.  FEC Roundtable Workshop on Pre-Election Communications. Registration information and schedule are here.

October 6, Washington, DC.  FEC Roundtable Workshop on Reporting Requirements. Registration information and schedule are here.

OTHER RESOURCES

The August issue of The Record is here. Sign up here to receive email notification when a new issue of the Record is posted.

The monthly supplements to the FEC’s Campaign Guides are here.

Sunshine Act Notices for previous Executive Sessions are here.  Agendas and related documents for previous Open Meetings are here.  Audio recordings for selected previous meetings, hearings and presentations are here.