Week of July 17-21, 2023

Commission meetings and hearings

No open meetings or executive sessions were scheduled this week.

Enforcement

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

MUR 7796

COMPLAINANT: Daniel L. Schmitt
RESPONDENTS: Robert “Buzz” Patterson; and Buzz Patterson for Congress and Louis G. Baglietto, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
SUBJECT: Patterson was a 2020 candidate for California’s 7th Congressional District, and Baglietto was the treasurer of the Committee. The complaint alleged that the Committee and Baglietto failed to file reports of receipts and disbursements between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2021, and that Patterson and the Committee converted campaign funds to personal use by having the Committee pay the candidate a salary that may have exceeded the permissible amount.
DISPOSITION: The Commission found reason to believe that the Committee and Baglietto in his official capacity failed to file reports of receipts and disbursements, and later found reason to believe that Baglietto in his personal capacity failed to maintain records or file reports of receipts and disbursements. The Commission found no reason to believe that the Committee and Patterson converted campaign funds to personal use because Patterson’s earned income from the prior year exceeded the amount of the stipends paid to him during the campaign, and because those stipends were paid after the filing deadline for the California primary ballot and prior to the general election. The Commission entered into two separate conciliation agreements with the Committee and Baglietto, in his personal capacity. The conciliation agreement with the Committee required it to admit to violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended (the Act), and to file complete reports disclosing all receipts and disbursements for all reporting periods between January 1, 2020, and March 31, 2022. The conciliation agreement with Baglietto in his personal capacity required him to admit to violations of the Act and to pay a civil penalty of $33,000.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

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

ADR 1104

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: Pennsylvania Conservative Fund and Paul Kilgore 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 file a 48-Hour Report to support an independent expenditure totaling $210,330.
DISPOSITION: The Committee agreed to pay a civil penalty of $10,500 and, in view of the Committee’s intention to terminate, to certify closure of its federal account and work with Commission staff to terminate its political committee status and reporting.

Administrative Fines

The Commission made public 11 closed cases, as follows. For more information, see the case documents in the Administrative Fine Search System.

AF 4422 Hyde for Congress and Martin Hyde, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed no civil penalty.

AF 4450 America Great PAC and Jason Pallante, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $1,121.

AF 4451 Center Street PAC and Matthew O’Brien, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $10,958.

AF 4452 Committee to Elect Kyle Sinclair for Congressional District 20 and Thomas Datwyler, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $7,152.

AF 4453 Create Change Now and Ken Crow, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $302.

AF 4454 Henry Martin for Congress and Ambrosia Ferree, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $3,672.

AF 4455 Hindus of Georgia PAC and Suresh Krishnamoorthy, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $2,093.

AF 4456 Holden for Congress and Marcus Cooper, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $858.

AF 4457 Iroghama Omere for TX and Iroghama C. Omere, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $7,948.

AF 4458 Patriots PAC LLC and Melvin Johnson, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $11,922.

AF 4531 American Pharmacists Association Political Action Committee and Shannon Morrison, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $483.

Litigation

AB PAC v. FEC (Case No. 22-2139) On July 17, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order granting the Commission’s partial motion to dismiss the Plaintiff’s amended complaint.

Campaign Legal Center, et al. v. FEC (Case No. 22-5336) On July 14, the Commission filed a Reply Brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Heritage Action for America v. FEC, et al. (Case No. 22-1422) On July 17, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order granting summary judgment in favor of the Plaintiff.

Outreach

On July 19, Commissioners Shana M. Broussard and Allen J. Dickerson discussed campaign finance disclosure rules and the role of the Commission with an Israeli Knesset delegation visiting the United States as part of the State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program.

On July 19, the Commission hosted a FECFile webinar for PACs and party committees.

Press releases

District Court issues opinion in Heritage Action for America v. FEC, et al. (issued July 19)

District Court issues opinion in AB PAC v. FEC (issued July 20)

Court of Appeals issues judgment and opinion in Stein, et al. v. FEC (issued July 21)

Employment opportunities

The Commission is accepting applications for the position of Legal Assistant (Dockets) through August 2, 2023.

Upcoming Commission meetings and hearings

August 8, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

August 10, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

August 29, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

August 30, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

Upcoming educational programs

August 30, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to host a Candidate 101 webinar.

September 27, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to host a full-day Seminar for Separate Segregated Funds at its headquarters in Washington, D.C. In-person attendance is limited, but virtual attendance is also available.

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

Upcoming reporting due dates

July 31: Mid-Year Reports are due. For more information, see the 2023 Semi-Annual Reporting schedule.

August 20: August 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.

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.