Week of July 18-22, 2022

Commission meetings and hearings

No open meetings or executive sessions were scheduled this week.

Advisory Opinions

Comments Received

Advisory Opinion Request 2022-14 (Google LLC) This week, the Commission received additional public comments on the advisory opinion request. The requestor asks whether it may provide a free and non-partisan pilot program to test certain design features in its email product to authorized candidate committees, political party committees, and leadership political action committees. The Commission has approved an extension of the public comment period to August 5, 2022.

Comments and Extension of Time Received

Advisory Opinion Request 2022-15 (Harley Rouda for Congress) This week, the Commission received two comments on the advisory opinion request. The requestors ask whether the Committee may reinstate loans that Rouda previously forgave, pursuant to 11 CFR § 116.l l(c)(2), and repay those loans with Committee cash on hand or funds raised to retire the debt, in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Federal Election Commission v. Ted Cruz for Senate. On July 20, the Commission received supplemental material and an extension of time from the requestor.

Extensions of Time

Advisory Opinion Request 2022-11 (State Democracy Defenders PAC) On July 19, the requestor granted an extension of time.

Enforcement

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

MUR 7759

COMPLAINANT: Christopher H. Brown
RESPONDENTS: William Figlesthaler for Congress and Steven Martin, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee); William M. Figlesthaler; Matthew Hurley; Collin Osborne; Rachael Schaaf; Landslyde Media Group, LLC (Landslyde); and Southeastern Strategies LLC (Southeastern)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that the Committee failed to report disbursements to Hurley, a political consultant, for services rendered. The complaint alleged that the Committee paid Hurley through Landslyde and Southeastern, two alleged shell corporations, and through Figlesthaler’s private medical practice as efforts to obscure Hurley as the ultimate payee. The complaint suggested that Hurley’s close connections to Osborne, a registered agent for Landslyde, and Schaaf, a registered agent for Southeastern, supported the inference that these organizations were run by Hurley, and that those individuals helped to conceal Hurley as the recipient of these payments. Figlesthaler was a 2020 candidate for the 19th Congressional District of Florida.
DISPOSITION: The Commission closed the file.

MUR 7422 (Greitens for Missouri; American Policy Coalition, Inc.; SEALs for Truth and Nicholas Britt, in his official capacity as treasurer; Freedom Frontier; LG PAC and Richard Monsees, in his official capacity as treasurer ; Eric R. Greitens; Michael Hafner; Nicholas Ayers; Monu Joseph; Austin Chambers; Target Enterprises, LLC; and C5 Creative Consulting, Inc. On July 8, Commissioner Ellen L. Weintraub issued a Statement of Reasons.

Audits

Final Audit Report of the Commission on UtePAC. On July 18, the Commission made public the Final Audit Report of the Commission on UtePAC, covering campaign finance activity between January 1, 2017 and December 31, 2018. The Commission approved findings concerning misstatement of financial activity, increased activity (corrected), cash disbursements, recordkeeping for disbursements, recordkeeping for communications, and disclosure of disbursements.

Litigation

AB PAC v. FEC (Case No. 22-2139) On July 20, Plaintiff filed a Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Campaign Legal Center v. FEC (Case Nos. 22-5140, 22-5167) On July 18, Appellant Heritage Action for America filed a Response in Opposition to Campaign Legal Center’s Motion for Summary Affirmance and Dismissal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Campaign Legal Center v. FEC (Case Nos. 22-5164, 22-5165) On July 21, Plaintiff-Appellee Campaign Legal Center filed a Response in Opposition to Motion to Hold Appeals in Abeyance in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

CREW v. FEC (Case No. 22-0035) On July 20, Plaintiff Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a Notice of the Federal Election Commission’s Failure to Oppose in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Upcoming Commission meetings

July 26 and 28, 2022: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

July 28, 2022: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

August 9, 2022: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

August 11, 2022: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

Upcoming educational programs

July 27, 2022: The Commission will host an FECConnect OnTopic session on when to file 24- and 48-Hour Reports for Independent Expenditures.

September 7, 2022: The Commission will host a webinar on Independent Expenditures and Pre-Election Communications.

September 14, 2022: The Commission will host an FECConnect OnTopic session on navigating the website.

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

Upcoming reporting due dates

August 20: August Monthly Reports are due. For more information, see the 2022 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.

2020 Presidential General Election Results and Federal Elections 2018: Election Results for the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives 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.

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.