Week of December 20 - 24, 2021

Commission meetings and hearings

No open meetings or executive sessions were scheduled this week.

Enforcement

The Commission made public four closed cases and three additional Statement of Reasons, as follows. For more information, see the case documents in the Enforcement Query System.

MUR 7522

COMPLAINANT: Thomas J. Anderson, National Legal and Policy Center
RESPONDENTS: Citizens for Waters and David Gould, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee); Maxine Waters; and Families & Teachers for Antonio Villaraigosa for Governor 2018 (Families & Teachers)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that Families & Teachers, a state independent expenditure committee, made and Rep. Maxine Waters, a 2018 candidate for California’s 43rd Congressional District, and the Committee accepted an excessive contribution in the form of a $25,000 payment for the proportionate cost for Villaraigosa’s name to appear on the Committee’s slate mailer.
DISPOSITION: The Commission dismissed the allegations. Chair Shana M. Broussard and Commissioners Steven T. Walther and Ellen L. Weintraub and Vice Chair Allen Dickerson and Commissioners Sean J. Cooksey and James E. “Trey” Trainor, III issued Statements of Reasons.

MUR 7632

COMPLAINANTS: Campaign for Accountability and Alice C.C. Huling
RESPONDENTS: Susan B. Anthony List Inc. Candidate Fund and Jennifer Gross, in her official capacity as treasurer (the Committee); Robert J. Kania II; and The Lukens Company (Lukens)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that the Committee, a separate segregated fund of Susan B. Anthony List, Inc., filed FEC reports falsely disclosing disbursements to Lukens, a vendor, at a time when the Committee had not yet paid the vendor. As a result, the Committee allegedly overstated its total disbursements and understated its cash-on-hand on its disclosure reports, and, because the Committee disclosed the unpaid amount as an unsecured loan from Lukens, the Committee accepted an impermissible corporate contribution from Lukens.
DISPOSITION: The Commission dismissed the allegations as to the Committee and Lukens. The Commission further found no reason to believe that Kania, the Committee’s treasurer at the time of the activity at issue in the complaint, violated the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended (the Act). Vice Chair Dickerson and Commissioners Cooksey and Trainor issued a Statement of Reasons.

MURs 7793 and 7801

COMPLAINANTS: Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington; Margaret Christ; and Campaign Legal Center
RESPONDENTS: Louis DeJoy; XPO Logistics f/k/a New Breed Holding Corp. (XPO); Thom Tillis Committee and Colin McMichael, in his official capacity as treasurer (Tillis Committee); Thom Tillis Victory Committee and Colin McMichael, in his official capacity as treasurer (Tillis Victory); David Young; and 63 contributors
SUBJECT: The complaints in these matters alleged that DeJoy, as CEO of New Breed Holding Company and then-board member and CEO of contract logistics at New Breed’s successor XPO, directed the companies to make prohibited corporate contributions in the name of another to the Tillis Committee, Tillis Victory, Jeb 2016, Inc., Trump Victory, and Mark Walker Victory Committee, by reimbursing employees through bonuses for contributions they made individually in violation of the Act.
DISPOSITION: The Commission dismissed the allegations that (1) DeJoy and XPO made prohibited corporate contributions in the name of another, (2) the Tillis Committee and Tillis Victory knowingly accepted corporate contributions in the name of another, and (3) 63 additional contributors permitted their names to be used to make contributions in the name of another. The Commission closed the file.

MUR 7605 (Chad E. Price; and Judson Hill for Congress and Chris D. Clayton, in his official capacity as treasurer) On December 21, Commissioner Weintraub issued a Supplemental Statement of Reasons.

MUR 7859 and 7860 (Citizens for a Working America, Inc.; Joel Riter; Norman Cummings; Jobs and Progress Fund, Inc.; Vaughn Church; Thomas Norris; and Mark Miller) On December 21, Vice Chair Dickerson and Commissioners Cooksey and Trainor issued a Statement of Reasons, and Commissioner Cooksey issued a Supplemental 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 1042

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: CASA in Action PAC and Melissa Guzman, 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 disclose all financial activity on its original 2020 Pre-General Report.
DISPOSITION: The Committee agreed to (1) retain an outside consultant to review its procedures and conduct an on-site training and (2) pay a civil penalty of $6,100.

Regulations and agency operations

REG 2020-03 (Technical Corrections). On December 17, the Commission approved technical corrections to various sections of its regulations.

2022 meeting dates

On December 22, the Commission approved an initial schedule of meeting dates for the first half of 2022.

Upcoming educational programs

January 12 and 19, 2022: The Commission will host Year-End Reporting and FECFile webinars.

February 8-9, 2022: The Commission will host a Regional Conference in San Diego, CA.

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

Upcoming reporting due dates

January 31, 2022: Year-end Reports are due. For more information, see the 2021 Monthly Reporting schedule.

Status of agency operations

See the Commission’s statement on the status of agency operations, updated on April 15, 2021. At this stage, most agency staff remain in telework status and the Commission’s office remains closed to visitors. See also the agency’s Workplace Safety Plan, dated May 6, 2021.

Updated Campaign Guide

The Commission recently updated its Campaign Guide for Congressional Candidates and Committees. The new Guide, which replaces the 2014 edition, provides an overall summary of the federal campaign finance laws that apply to candidates for the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate and their campaign committees.

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 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.