Week of December 5-9, 2022

Commission meetings and hearings

No open meetings or executive sessions were scheduled this week.

Advisory Opinions

Draft Advisory Opinions

Advisory Opinion Request 2022-22 (Data Vault I) On December 8, the Commission made public a draft advisory opinion.

Advisory Opinion Request 2022-23 (Data Vault II) On December 8, the Commission made public a draft advisory opinion.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

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

ADR 1081

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: For a Better Colorado and Melinda Paterson, in 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 (1) timely file one 48-Hour Report totaling $59,523.90 to support two independent expenditures disclosed on its Amended 2020 October Quarterly Report, 2) disclose all financial activity on its 2020 October Quarterly and 12-Day Pre-General Reports, and 3) timely file one 24-Hour Report totaling $50,000 to support two independent expenditures disclosed on its Amended 2020 12-Day Pre-General Report.
DISPOSITION: The Committee agreed to certify closure of the Committee’s federal account and file a Termination Report with the Commission, and to pay a civil penalty of $12,625.

ADR 1083

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: 21st Century Democrats and Bill Combs, in 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 that during the 2017-2018 election cycle, the Committee misstated financial activity in the amount of $295,631, failed to properly disclose the required occupation and/or name of employer information for 1,258 contributions totaling $202,744, failed to properly disclose the required information for 55 disbursements totaling $640,998, and failed to disclose debts and obligations to five vendors totaling $362,600.
DISPOSITION: The Committee agreed to 1) certify internal control procedures; 2) retain an outside consultant to review its compliance procedures and conduct an on-site training with those responsible for preparing and filing its reports; and 3) pay a civil penalty of $18,500.

Administrative Fines

The Commission made public 20 closed cases, as follows. For more information, see the case documents in the Administrative Fine Search System.

AF 4311 Matt Berg for Congress and Gerald D. Gunn, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $373.

AF 4312 Michael Perkins for Congress and Kelly Perkins, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed no civil penalty.

AF 4313 Michelle Beckley for Congress and Martin Mikes, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $5,563.

AF 4314 National Sorghum Producers Political Action Committee and Larry Richardson, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $1,346.

AF 4315 Ohioans for Parental Choice and Jeff Jacobson, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $200.

AF 4316 Our Black Party and Betty Crichlow-Eberhardt, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $448.

AF 4317 Patriots for American Leadership and Eddie Shivers, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed no civil penalty.

AF 4318 Reba for Congress and Bryon Fredrick McComb, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $35,765.

AF 4319 Support American Leaders PAC and Matthew Nelson Tunstall, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $17,486.

AF 4320 The Seasonal Employer PAC and Peter Delany, Jr., in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed no civil penalty.

AF 4321 Together We Thrive and Christopher Zullo, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $14,308.

AF 4322 Vote Gabi and Elizabeth Faust, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $2,146.

AF 4323 We Have the People PAC and David Pantos, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $5,563.

AF 4324 Women Vote Smart and Amy S. Kremer, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $17,885.

AF 4325 Mark Pukita for US Senate 2022 and Mark Pukita, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $2,093.

AF 4326 Neil Patel for US Senate and Carol Cain, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $158.

AF 4327 Charles Graham for Congress and James B. Hunt, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $2,093.

AF 4328 Geoff Young for Kentucky and Geoffrey M. Young, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $748.

AF 4329 Lee Haywood for Congress Committee and Stephen E. Golimowski, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $744.

AF 4331 Friends of Mark Baker and O'Lillian Baker, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $2,093.

Regulations and agency procedures

REG 2013-01: Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Technological Modernization On December 9, the Commission published a Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Technological Modernization in the Federal Register. The Commission seeks written comment on the Notice, which may be submitted electronically. Comments must be received by January 9, 2023.

Litigation

AB PAC v. FEC (Case No. 22-2139) On December 2, the Commission filed a Reply Memorandum in Support of its Partial Motion to Dismiss in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Campaign Legal Center v. FEC, et al. (Case No. 19-2236) On December 8, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order granting Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment and denying Defendant-Intervenors’ Motion for Summary Judgment. The court ordered the Commission to conform to the court’s decision within 30 days.

Campaign Legal Center v. FEC (Case No. 22-1976) On December 8, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order granting the Commission’s Motion to Dismiss.

Castro v. FEC (Case No. 22-2176) On December 6, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued an Order granting the Commission’s partial motion to dismiss, denying Plaintiff’s motion for a temporary restraining order, and dismissing Plaintiff’s complaint in its entirety.

Freedman v. FEC (Case No. 22-1542) On May 25, 2022, Plaintiff filed a Complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Outreach

On December 5, Vice Chair Dara Lindenbaum met with a Fulbright Visiting Scholar from the State University of New York at Albany to discuss the campaign finance laws and FEC operations.

On December 8, Assistant Staff Directors Debbie Chacona (Reports Analysis) and Dayna Brown (Audit), Deputy Associate General Counsel for Enforcement C.J. Pavia (Office of the General Counsel) and Communications Specialist Isaac Baker (Information) discussed the agency’s compliance program with a delegation from the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES).

2023 Meeting Dates

This week, the Commission approved a schedule of meeting dates for the first half of 2023. Meetings will begin at 10:30 a.m. Eastern, unless otherwise noted.

Press releases

District Court issues opinions in Campaign Legal Center v. FEC (Case No. 22-1976) and Campaign Legal Center v. FEC, et al. (Case No. 19-2336) (issued December 9)

Upcoming Commission meetings

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

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

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

January 12, 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.