Week of February 13-17, 2023

Commission meetings and hearings

On February 14, the Commission held a hybrid public hearing on audit procedures for non-publicly funded political committees. Five witnesses provided testimony at the hearing.

Enforcement

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

MUR 7750

COMPLAINANTS: Rev. Dr. T. Anthony Spearman; and North Carolina State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
RESPONDENTS: Faith and Power PAC and Taylor Reed, in their official capacity as treasurer (FPP); and Senate Leadership Fund and Caleb Crosby, in his official capacity as treasurer (SLF)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that FPP, an independent expenditure-only political committee, inaccurately reported independent expenditures it made in the 2020 North Carolina Democratic Primary Election for U.S. Senate when it failed to disclose the true intention of the communications, which was to support incumbent Republican Senator Thom Tillis in the general election. The complaint claimed that SLF was a “front” for the “national Republican Party,” which purportedly created and funded FPP for the purpose of influencing the North Carolina Democratic Party Primary Election. The complaint further alleged that FPP coordinated these expenditures with a political party committee, resulting in excessive in-kind contributions.
DISPOSITION: The Commission found no reason to believe that FPP inaccurately reported independent expenditures as the available advertisements and mailers did not appear to support Tillis’s candidacy. The Commission also found no reason to believe that FPP coordinated its communications with a political party committee as there was insufficient evidence to support this inference.

MUR 7871

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: Committee to Elect Alan Grayson and Star Grayson, 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 accurately and timely report receipts and disbursements and accepted and failed to remedy excessive contributions connected to the 2016 election cycle. Alan Grayson was a 2016 candidate for Florida’s U.S. Senate seat.
DISPOSITION: The Commission entered into a conciliation agreement providing for the Committee to: 1) refund any remaining outstanding excessive contributions and amend its disclosure reports to reflect such refunds, 2) pay a civil penalty of $55,000, and 3) amend its subsequent reports to correct any errors that resulted from its 2016 misreporting.

MUR 7985

COMPLAINANT: Guthrie for Congress and Laura LaRue, in her official capacity as treasurer RESPONDENTS: Lee Watts for Congress and Thomas Datwyler, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Watts Committee); and Christopher Henning for KY and Christopher Lee Henning, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Henning Committee)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that the Henning Committee contributed $2,900 to the Watts Committee during the 2022 primary election, exceeding the $2,000-per-election limit on contributions from one candidate’s principal campaign committee to another candidate committee.
DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the matter.

Administrative Fines

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

AF 4336 Hockstedler for U.S. Senate and William Eric Hockstedler, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $748.

AF 4398 Rodney for Congress and Thomas Datwyler, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $5,820.

AF 4399 Friends of John Thune and Barb Dep Buell, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $30,012.

AF 4468 Friends of McCormick and Thomas Datwyler, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission mad a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $11,190.

AF 4469 Citizens for Josh Mandel, Inc. and Elizabeth Curtis, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $15,080.

Regulations and agency procedures

REG 2021-01 (Candidate Salaries) On February 13, the Commission made public 11 comments that it received in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on candidate salaries, published in the Federal Register on December 12, 2022.

Litigation

CREW v. FEC (Case No. 22-3281) On February 10, Intervenor-Defendant American Action Network filed a Reply in Support of Its Motion to Dismiss and the Commission filed a Reply in Support of Its Motion to Dismiss in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

National Republican Senatorial Committee, et al. v. FEC, et al. (Case No. 22-639) On February 13, the Commission filed a Reply in Support of Its Motion to Dismiss for Improper Venue or, In the Alternative, Transfer in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.

Ready for Ron v. FEC (Case No. 22-3282) On February 15, Plaintiff filed a Reply Memorandum of Law in Support of Motion for Preliminary Injunction in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Press releases

FEC holds hearing on improving audit procedures (issued February 14)

Outreach

On February 14 and 15, the Commission held a webinar for corporations and their PACs.

On February 21, Commissioner Shana M. Broussard and Chairman Thomas Hicks of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission will host a Black History Month conversation with election experts. Topics will include the future of multiracial democracy, diversifying the candidate pool, and barriers to casting a meaningful vote, among others.

Upcoming Commission meetings

February 28, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

March 2, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

Upcoming educational programs

February 22, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to host an FECConnect OnTopic session on Filing a Termination Report.

March 14-15, 2023: The Commission will host a webinar for membership and labor organizations and their PACs.

March 22, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to host an FECConnect OnTopic session on 2023-2024 Contribution Limits.

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 2023 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 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.