Week of February 10 – 14, 2025
Commission meetings and hearings
The Commission voted to cancel the executive session scheduled for February 11 and 13.
The Commission voted to cancel the open meeting scheduled for February 13.
Advisory Opinions
Request Received
Advisory Opinion Request 2025-02 (Democratic Party of Puerto Rico) On February 13, the Commission made public an advisory opinion request from the Democratic Party of Puerto Rico. The Democratic Party of Puerto Rico asks to be recognized as a state committee of a national political party. The Commission will accept written comments on the request during the 10-day period following publication of the request (no later than February 24) and must issue a response no later than 60 days after the receipt of the complete request, that is, by April 4, 2025.
Enforcement
The Commission made public 10 closed cases, as follows. For more information, see the case documents in the Enforcement Search System.
COMPLAINANT: Carl Boyanton
RESPONDENTS: Palazzo for Congress and Paul Kilgore, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee); and Steven Palazzo
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that (1) Palazzo and the Committee converted campaign funds to personal use for payments for rent, maintenance, utilities and repairs to a house owned by Palazzo, (2) Palazzo used Committee vehicles for non-campaign-related purposes, and (3) the Committee made payments for car leases and vehicle-related expenses, without maintaining mileage logs. Palazzo was a 2020 candidate for reelection in Mississippi’s 4th Congressional District.
DISPOSITION: The Commission entered into a conciliation agreement with the Committee and Palazzo providing for Palazzo to pay a civil penalty of $13,500 and to reimburse the Committee $16,500 to pay any outstanding debts of the campaign.
COMPLAINANT: Campaign Legal Center
RESPONDENTS: Society of Young Women Scientists and Engineers LLC (SYWSE); 1820 PAC and Thomas C. Datwyler in his official capacity as treasurer (1820 PAC); Jennifer Lam; Martin Kao; Clifford Chen; Lawrence Lum Kee; and PacMar Technologies, LLC f/k/a Navatek LLC (PacMar)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that SYWSE was not the true source of a $150,000 contribution it purportedly made to 1820 PAC, an independent expenditure-only political committee supporting Senator Susan Collins, but instead that Jennifer Lam, SYWSE’s registered agent and manager, and other unknown persons made the contribution in the name of another using SYWSE as a conduit. The complaint further alleged that SYWSE violated the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended (the Act), by knowingly permitting its name to be used to effect a prohibited contribution in the name of another, and that SYWSE met the legal requirements of a political committee under the Act, but failed to register, organize, and report as such.
DISPOSITION: The Commission found reason to believe that unknown persons violated the Act by making a contribution in the name of another, and that SYWSE violated the Act by knowingly permitting its name to be used to effect a contribution in the name of another. After an investigation, the Commission substituted PacMar Technologies, LLC, f/k/a Navatek LLC, in place of the “unknown persons” and found reason to believe that PacMar knowingly and willfully violated the Act by making a contribution in the name of SYWSE to 1820 PAC using government contractor funds. The Commission also found that SYWSE knowingly and willfully violated 52 U.S.C. § 30122 by permitting its name to be used to effect a contribution in the name of another to 1820 PAC, and later issued probable cause to believe findings against SYWSE. The Commission determined to take no further action as to SYWSE. The Commission dismissed allegations that Lam violated the Act in connection with the contribution from SYWSE to 1820 PAC, that SYWSE failed to organize, register, and report as a political committee, and that 1820 PAC violated the Act by failing to refund SYWSE’s $150,000 contribution. The Commission entered into a conciliation agreement with PacMar for making a contribution in the name of another using government contractor funds, in violation of 52 U.S.C. §§ 30122 and 30119, and providing for PacMar to pay a civil penalty of $325,000. The Commission closed the file as to all respondents.
COMPLAINANT: Mary McMillan
RESPONDENTS: Kumar for Congress and Gary Tasser, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee); Gopal Aggarwal; Om Bachu; John Donovan; Judy Donovan; Thomas Dyal; HansPeter Gerber; Bill Gorman; Dave House; Mohan Kalkunte; Devyany Kamdar; Narsimha Koppula; Rishub Kumar; Rishi Kumar; Padma Srinivas; Chandar Pattabhiram; Dhanshree Bhagwatrao Pawar; David Rossi; Jayant Somani; Sumita Somani; Anjali Sridhar; Murli Thirumale; Vandana Thirumale; Jay Vadrevu; Anjali Yadav; and Rishi Raj Yadav
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that the Committee knowingly accepted and failed to properly refund excessive campaign contributions from 24 contributors, and that the Committee violated reporting requirements by disclosing inaccurate contributor titles and addresses and attributing the incorrect election cycle for certain contributions.
DISPOSITION: The Commission dismissed the matter.
COMPLAINANT: Jaren Davidson
RESPONDENTS: Conor for AZ and Jeanne Lunn, in her official capacity as treasurer (the Committee); and Conor O’Callaghan
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that O’Callaghan and the Committee sent a mailer attacking O’Callaghan’s primary election opponent, Marlene Galán-Woods, without the required disclaimers and failed to report the mailer as an expenditure. O’Callaghan was a 2024 candidate for Arizona’s 1st Congressional District.
DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the matter.
COMPLAINANT: Phillip A. Ortiz
RESPONDENTS: Marc for US Inc. and Lisa Lisker, in her official capacity as treasurer (Federal Committee); Molinaro for Dutchess (State Committee); and Marcus J. Molinaro
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that Molinaro and the State Committee made and Molinaro and the Federal Committee accepted and failed to report approximately $10,000 in prohibited in-kind contributions. Molinaro, formerly County Executive for Dutchess County, New York, was a 2022 and 2024 candidate for New York’s 19th Congressional District.
DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the matter.
COMPLAINANT: Steve Jones
RESPONDENTS: Louie Sanchez for New Mexico and Rob Duncan, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee); and Louie Sanchez
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that Sanchez failed to file a Statement of Candidacy within 15 days of becoming a candidate and that the Committee failed to file a Statement of Organization within 10 days of its designation. Sanchez was a 2024 candidate for New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District.
DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the matter.
COMPLAINANT: Tiffany Muller, End Citizens United
RESPONDENTS: Esposito for Congress and Taylor Moose, in her official capacity as treasurer (the Committee); and Alison Esposito
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that Esposito and the Committee converted campaign funds to personal use when the Committee made three payments totaling $2,141 to a parking vendor for Esposito’s personal parking. Esposito was a 2024 candidate for New York’s 18th Congressional District.
DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the matter.
COMPLAINANT: Erin Matson, President and CEO, Reproaction
RESPONDENTS: Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising (PAAU); Terrisa Bukovinac; and Bukovinac for President and Robert Joseph Byrd, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that PAAU, a 501(c)(3) organization, allowed PAAU founder and 2024 presidential candidate Bukovinac and the Committee to send a fundraising email through PAAU’s email account without compensation.
DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the matter.
COMPLAINANT: Christopher G. Britt
RESPONDENT: Dansel for Congress and Tyrus Rickard, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that the Committee disseminated signs without proper disclaimers. Brian Dansel was a 2024 candidate for Washington’s 5th Congressional District,
DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the matter.
COMPLAINANT: Jill Gerwing
RESPONDENT: Tony Wied for Congress and Bradley Crate, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that the Committee distributed signs without adequate disclaimers. Wied was a 2024 candidate for Wisconsin’s 8th Congressional District.
DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the matter.
Litigation
Campaign Legal Center, et al. v. FEC (Case Nos. 19-2336 and 25-5027) On February 11, Plaintiffs filed a Notice of Appeal in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. On February 13, Plaintiffs-Appellants filed a Motion to Hold Appeal in Abeyance in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
DCCC v. FEC (Case No. 24-2935) On February 7, Intervenor-Defendant NRSC filed a Motion to Dismiss the Amended Complaint and a Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support of its Motion to Dismiss, and the Commission filed a Motion to Dismiss and a Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support of its Motion to Dismiss in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Upcoming Commission meetings and hearings
February 25, 2025: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.
February 27, 2025: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.
March 11, 2025: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.
March 13, 2025: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.
Upcoming educational opportunities
March 11-12, 2025: The Commission is scheduled to host a webinar for corporations and their PACs.
March 25-26, 2025: The Commission is scheduled to host a webinar for membership and labor organizations and their PACs.
April 8-9, 2025: The Commission is scheduled to host a webinar for trade associations and their PACs.
For more information on upcoming training opportunities, see the Commission’s Trainings page.
Upcoming reporting due dates
February 20: February Monthly Reports are due. For more information, see the 2025 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.
Federal election results 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.
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 X and YouTube
Follow @FEC on X 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.
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- Myles Martin
- Deputy Press Officer
- Myles Martin