Week of February 17 – 21, 2025

Commission meetings and hearings

No open meetings or executive sessions were scheduled this week.

Enforcement

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

MUR 8146

COMPLAINANTS: Campaign Legal Center and Saurav Ghosh
RESPONDENTS: ECN Capital Corporation (ECN Capital); ECN (US) Holdings Corp.; ECN (US) Inc.; ECN Capital Advisory Group LLC; ECN Rail LLC; ECN Platinum LLC; Steven K. Hudson; Michael Lepore; Florida Democratic Party and Francine Addie Garcia, in her official capacity as treasurer (Florida Democratic Party); Empower Parents PAC (f/k/a Friends of Ron DeSantis) and Nancy H. Watkins, in her official capacity as treasurer (Empower Parents PAC); Ron DeSantis for Governor 2018 and Nancy H. Watkins, in her official capacity as treasurer (Ron DeSantis for Governor 2018); Ron DeSantis for Governor 2022 and Nancy H. Watkins, in her official capacity as treasurer (Ron DeSantis for Governor 2022); Friends of Milo Thorton and Russell S. Doster, in his official capacity as treasurer (Friends of Milo Thorton); Team Graham, Inc. and Cabell Hobbs, in his official capacity as treasurer (Team Graham); Blake Masters for Senate and Ashley Ragan, in her official capacity as treasurer (Blake Masters for Senate); Team Herschel and Salvatore Purpura, in his official capacity as treasurer (Team Herschel); Bolduc 2022 and Bradley T. Crate, in his official capacity as treasurer (Bolduc 2022); Trump Save America and Bradley T. Crate, in his official capacity as treasurer (Trump Save America); Make America Great Again PAC (f/k/a Donald J. Trump for President, Inc.) and Bradley T. Crate, in his official capacity as treasurer (Make America Great Again PAC); WinRed, Inc. and Benjamin Ottenhoff, in his official capacity as treasurer (WinRed); Laxalt for Senate and Cameron Phillips, in his official capacity as treasurer (Laxalt for Senate); Team Rick Scott and Salvatore A. Purpura, in his official capacity as treasurer (Team Rick Scott); Let's Get to Work PAC and Salvatore A. Purpura, in his official capacity as treasurer (Let’s Get to Work PAC); and Rick Scott for Florida and Salvatore A. Purpura, in his official capacity as treasurer (Rick Scott for Florida)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that ECN Capital, a Canadian corporation, violated the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended (the Act), by making prohibited foreign national donations in connection with state and local elections in Florida, and that the Florida Democratic Party, Empower Parents PAC, and Ron DeSantis for Governor 2022 may have violated the Act by knowingly accepting or receiving these foreign national donations. The complaint further alleged that several U.S.-based subsidiaries of ECN Capital (ECN (US) Holdings Corp., ECN (US) Inc., ECN Capital Advisory Group LLC, ECN Rail LLC, and ECN Platinum LLC) and two of their officers (Steven K. Hudson and Michael Lepore) may have violated the Act by making prohibited foreign national contributions and donations in connection with federal and state elections. Correspondingly, the complaint alleged that the following 13 recipient committees may have knowingly accepted or received foreign national contributions or donations from these individuals or entities: Friends of Milo Thorton, Team Graham, Blake Masters for Senate, Ron DeSantis for Governor 2018, Team Herschel, Bolduc 2022, Trump Save America, Make America Great Again PAC, WinRed, Laxalt for Senate, Team Rick Scott, Let’s Get to Work PAC, and Rick Scott for Florida.
DISPOSITION: The Commission voted to dismiss the matter. Commissioners Shana M. Broussard, James E. “Trey” Trainor, III, Allen J. Dickerson, and Dara Lindenbaum issued a Statement of Reasons.

MUR 8148

COMPLAINANT: Ralph King
RESPONDENTS: Frank LaRose; LaRose for Senate and Lisa Lisker, in her official capacity as treasurer (LaRose for Senate); and Leadership for Ohio Fund and Dustin McIntyre in his official capacity as a treasurer (LFOF)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that Frank LaRose became a federal candidate on or before May 1, 2023, and therefore filed his Statement of Candidacy late with the Commission on July 17, 2023. The complaint alleged that based on communications LaRose made to potential donors beginning in May 2023 when he solicited contributions to LFOF, then a 527 organization, which was allegedly formed to support his federal candidacy for U.S. Senate from Ohio. The complaint also raised the possibility that LaRose’s campaign committee, LaRose for Senate, similarly filed its Statement of Organization late on July 17, 2023. The complaint further alleged that, during the two-and-a-half-month period when LaRose was a candidate but failed to timely register, LaRose solicited donations outside the amount limitations and source prohibitions of the Act to LFOF to support his candidacy, in violation of the soft money provision of the Act and Commission regulations. Finally, the complaint alleged that LFOF, which registered with the Commission as an independent expenditure-only political committee on July 15, 2024, funded a “push poll” in support of LaRose prior to registering with the Commission, raising the allegation that it was engaged in federal election activity before it registered with the Commission and thus failed to timely file as a political committee.
DISPOSITION: The Commission voted to dismiss the matter. Chair Ellen L. Weintraub issued a Statement of Reasons.

MUR 8238

COMPLAINANTS: Saurav Ghosh and Sophia Gonsalves-Brown, Campaign Legal Center; and Tiffany Muller, End Citizens United
RESPONDENTS: Truth and Courage PAC and Kris Ozanus, in their official capacity as treasurer (Truth and Courage PAC); and Rafael Edward “Ted” Cruz
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that Senator Ted Cruz of Texas violated the Act by soliciting or directing over $961,000 in soft money from the corporate distributor of his podcast, iHeart Media, Inc., to Truth and Courage PAC, an independent expenditure-only political committee supporting his 2024 reelection campaign. The complaint also alleged that Truth and Courage PAC, incorrectly reported the funds as federal receipts instead of contributions.
DISPOSITION: The Commission voted to dismiss the matter.

Administrative Fines

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

AF 4342 Making a Difference in Service to Our Nation PAC and David Madison Cawthorn, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $17,458.

Upcoming Commission meetings and hearings

February 25 and 27, 2025: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

February 27, 2025: The Commission voted to cancel the 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

March 20: March 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.