Week of December 26-30, 2022

Commission meetings and hearings

No open meetings or executive sessions were scheduled this week.

Enforcement

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

MURs 7628, 7636 and 7992

COMPLAINANTS: Common Cause and Paul Ryan; Campaign Legal Center and Margaret Christ; and Self-Reported
RESPONDENTS: Kobach for Senate and Elizabeth Curtis, in her official capacity as treasurer (the Committee); WeBuildtheWall, Inc. (WBTW); and Kris Kobach
SUBJECT: The complaints alleged that WBTW, a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization, made and Kobach and the Committee accepted an impermissible in-kind corporate contribution in the form of an email list rental below the usual and normal charge, and that the Committee failed to report the in-kind contribution from WBTW. In addition, the Committee filed a sua sponte submission notifying the Commission that a July 2019 email that was sent to the WBTW email list on soliciting contributions to the Committee lacked the required disclaimer. Kobach was a 2020 candidate for Kansas’s U.S. Senate seat.
DISPOSITION: The Commission entered into a conciliation agreement providing for Kobach, the Committee, and WBTW to pay a civil penalty of $30,000. The Commission dismissed the allegations regarding the lack of a disclaimer because a vendor acknowledged responsibility for an inadvertent failure and the Committee sent corrected emails including a proper disclaimer shortly after the emails were issued.

MUR 8029

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENTS: Dr Jay for Congress and James C. Thomas, 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 report disbursements totaling $62,091.73 on its original 2020 12-Day Pre-Primary Report. Jay Jalisi was a candidate for the 2020 Special Election for Maryland’s 7th Congressional District.
DISPOSITION: The Commission entered into a conciliation agreement providing for the Committee to pay a civil penalty of $500.

MUR 8050

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: Montana Democratic Party and Lance Fourstar, 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 report receipts and disbursements and accepted excessive contributions during the 2020 election cycle.
DISPOSITION: The Commission entered into a conciliation agreement providing for the Committee to pay a civil penalty of $38,000.

MUR 8070

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: Democratic Executive Committee of Florida and Fran Garcia, in her 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 adequately disclose debts and accepted excessive and prohibited contributions during the 2020 election cycle
DISPOSITION: The Commission entered into a conciliation agreement providing for the Committee to pay a civil penalty of $43,000.

Regulations and agency procedures

Civil Monetary Penalties Annual Inflation Adjustments 2023 On December 29, the Commission’s Final Rules to adjust its civil monetary penalty amounts for inflation were published in the Federal Register. The Commission determined these amounts through a statutory formula, which applies the most recent cost-of-living adjustment ratio, issued by the Office of Management and Budget, to the current amounts. The amended civil monetary penalties took effect as of the publication date.

REG 2022-05 (Conduit Reporting Threshold) On December 28, the Commission made public nine comments that it received in response to the Notice of Availability published October 28 in the Federal Register regarding a Petition for Rulemaking from WinRed. The Commission is considering whether it should initiate a full rulemaking on amending its existing regulations regarding the threshold amount at which conduits forwarding contributions to political committees must identify the contributors to the recipient political committees and the Commission.

Upcoming Commission meetings

January 10, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

January 12, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

January 24, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

January 26, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

Upcoming educational programs

January 24, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to host FECFile and reporting webinars for PACs and party committees.

January 25, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to host FECFile and reporting webinars for candidate committees.

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

Upcoming reporting due dates

January 31, 2023: Year-End Reports are due. For more information, see the 2022 Quarterly and Monthly Reporting schedules.

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.

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.