Week of August 8-12, 2022

Commission meetings and hearings

On August 9 and 11, the Commission met in executive session.

On August 11, the Commission held an open meeting.

Advisory Opinions

Opinions Issued

Advisory Opinion 2022-13 (Dr. Alan Gross and Northern Leadership PAC) On August 11, the Commission approved Advisory Opinion 2022-13 in response to a request from Gross and the Northern Leadership PAC (the Committee). The Commission concluded that the Committee may choose to convert either to an authorized committee of Gross’s campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives or, alternatively, its previous designation as the principal campaign committee of Gross’s 2020 campaign for the U.S. Senate. The Commission received one comment on the draft advisory opinion.

Advisory Opinion 2022-14 (Google LLC) On August 11, the Commission approved Advisory Opinion 2022-14 in response to a request from Google LLC. The Commission concluded that a pilot program to test new Gmail design features at no cost on a nonpartisan basis to authorized candidate committees, political party committees, and leadership PACs would be permissible under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended (the Act), and Commission regulations and would not result in the making of a prohibited in-kind contribution. The Commission received over 2,500 comments on the request and two drafts. On August 10, the Commission made public Supplemental Material provided by the requestor.

Advisory Opinion 2022-18 (Fleming, et al.) On August 11, the Commission approved Advisory Opinion 2022-18 in response to a request from four House campaign Committees. The Commission concluded that the Committees may seek to have contributions that were originally designated for New York’s November 2022 general election redesignated for New York’s August 23, 2022, primary election even if they are received more than 60 days after receipt in light of the Commission’s conclusion in Advisory Opinion 2022-08 (National Republican Congressional Committee) (NRCC) that a separate contribution limit applies to the August 23, 2022, primary election.

Comment Received

Advisory Opinion Request 2022-12 (Ready for Ron) On August 8, the Commission received one comment on the 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 7925

COMPLAINANT: Jorge Fernandez
RESPONDENTS: Jim Banks for Congress, Inc., and Steve Martin, Jr., in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee); Thomas W. Kelley; and Kelley Automotive Group, LLC
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that Kelley made, and the Committee knowingly accepted, excessive contributions when he contributed under two different spellings of his name and through his sole proprietorship, Kelley Automotive Group LLC. Banks is a 2022 primary candidate for Indiana’s 3rd Congressional District.
DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the complaint.

MUR 8000

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: Jim Jordan for Congress and Thomas Datwyler, in his 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 and accurately disclose $1,228,862.77 in receipts and disbursements in five disclosure reports during the 2018 and 2020 election cycles.
DISPOSITION: The Commission entered into a conciliation agreement providing for the Committee to pay a civil penalty of $60,000.

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 1076

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: WOMEN VOTE!
SUBJECT: In the normal course of exercising its supervisory responsibilities, the Commission initiated proceedings to determine whether there was reason to believe the respondent failed to timely file one 48-Hour Report totaling $170,146.00 to support one independent expenditure and one 24-Hour Report totaling $57,220.38 to support two independent expenditures.
DISPOSITION: The respondent agreed to 1) conduct an annual training on independent expenditure reporting procedures and 2) pay a civil penalty of $14,000.

Litigation

45Committee, Inc. v. FEC (Case No. 22-502) On August 5, the Commission filed an Opposition to Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment and Reply in Support of Its Motion for Summary Judgment in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Heritage Action for America v. FEC, et al. (Case No. 22-1422) On August 5, Plaintiff filed a Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment and a Combined Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Opposition to Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss and in Support of Plaintiff’s Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Josh Hawley for Senate v. FEC (Case No. 22-1275) On August 8, the Commission filed an Answer in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Outreach

On August 9, Senior Communications Specialist Paul Stoetzer spoke to a delegation from Australia and India about the functions of the Commission as well as current challenges in campaign finance law, as part of the U.S. State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP).

Press releases

FEC approves three advisory opinions (issued August 11)

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.

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

September 15, 2022: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

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.

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.

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.