Week of January 6 – 10, 2025

Commission meetings and hearings

No open meetings or executive sessions were scheduled this week.

Enforcement

The Commission made public four closed cases this week, as follows. For more information, see the Enforcement Search System.

MUR 8104

COMPLAINANT: Mae Graham
RESPONDENT: Henry Martin for Congress and Ambrosia Ferree, in her official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that the Committee’s reported ending cash-on-hand balance in its 2022 Pre-Primary Report failed to match its beginning cash-on-hand balance in its subsequent 2022 October Quarterly Report, reflecting an unexplained increase of $30,554.03. Martin was a 2022 candidate for Missouri’s 6th Congressional District.
DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the matter.

MUR 8239

COMPLAINANT: Stephen Nelson
RESPONDENTS: Republican National Committee and Kristin Crosbie, in her official capacity as treasurer (RNC); and Save America and Bradley Crate, in his official capacity as treasurer (Save America)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that an unknown individual or individuals made, and the RNC and Save America leadership PAC knowingly accepted, contributions in the name of another after the two committees listed the complainant as the source of 11 contributions in his name that he did not make.
DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the matter.

MUR 8265

COMPLAINANT: Adam Mahler
RESPONDENT: New Coalition PAC and Alexandria Leupen, in her official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
SUBJECT: The Complaint alleges that the Committee, an independent expenditure-only political committee, continued to act as a political committee without filing necessary disclosure reports after its administrative termination.
DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the matter.

MUR 8275

COMPLAINANT: Michael Howard Williams
RESPONDENTS: Hamilton County Republican Party (County Party); and John Carter for Congress and Todd Meredith, in his official capacity as treasurer (Carter Committee)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that the County Party made, and the Carter Committee and other committees knowingly accepted and failed to disclose excessive, in-kind contributions of $6,000, or alternately that the County Party made a coordinated party expenditure of the same amount supporting Carter and apparently the other unidentified committees. Carter was a 2024 candidate for Texas’s 31st Congressional District.
DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the matter.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

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

ADR 1176

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: Transport Workers Union Voice and Jerome Lafragola, 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 disclose $125,000 in additional receipts on its 2023 Year-End Report.
DISPOSITION: The Committee agreed to 1) develop and certify implementation of a compliance operations manual which includes internal controls, 2) participate in an FEC training program, and 3) pay a civil penalty of $4,975.

Administrative Fines

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

AF 4773 Jose Castillo for Congress and Jose Castillo, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $832.

AF 4777 Mike Lynch for Congress and Alex Lynch, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $4,108.

Litigation

End Citizens United PAC v. FEC (Case No. 22-5277) On January 2, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) and the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) filed a Brief of Amici Curiae in Support of Appellees and Affirmance in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

FEC v. Rivera (Case No. 17-22643) On January 8, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida issued an Order Closing the Case and Dismissing with Prejudice.

Outreach

On January 8, Commissioner Dara Lindenbaum participated in a panel discussion at the American Association of Law Schools’ Conference in San Francisco, CA.

On January 10, Chair Ellen L. Weintraub discussed campaign finance disclosure rules and the role of the Commission with students from The Washington Center.

Employment opportunities

The Commission is accepting applications for the position of Information Technology Specialist (Security) through January 21, 2025.

Upcoming Commission meetings and hearings

January 14, 2025: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

January 28, 2025: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

January 30, 2025: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

Upcoming educational opportunities

January 15, 2025: The Commission is scheduled to host Year-End reporting and FECFile webinars for political action committees (PACs) and party committees.

January 22, 2025: The Commission is scheduled to host Year-End reporting and FECFile webinars for candidate committees.

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

Upcoming reporting due dates

January 31, 2025: Year-End Reports are due. For more information, see the 2024 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 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.