Week of July 4-8, 2022

Commission meetings and hearings

No open meetings or executive sessions were scheduled this week.

Advisory Opinions

Requests Received

Advisory Opinion Request 2022-14 (Google LLC) On July 6, the Commission made public an advisory opinion request by Google. 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 will accept written comments on the request during the 10-day period following the publication of the request (no later than July 11) and must issue a response no later than 60 days after the receipt of the complete advisory opinion request, that is, by August 30, 2022.

Advisory Opinion Request 2022-15 (Harley Rouda for Congress) On July 6, the Commission made public an advisory opinion request from Harley Rouda and Harley Rouda for Congress. 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. The Commission will accept written comments on the request during the 10-day period following publication of the request (no later than July 18) and must issue a response no later than 60 days after the receipt of the complete request, that is, by August 29, 2022.

Advisory Opinion Request 2022-16 (DSCC/DNC) On July 7, the Commission made public an advisory opinion request from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Democratic National Committee Services Corporation/Democratic National Committee (the Committees). The Committees ask whether they may retain and use contributions that a vendor with whom the Committees contract failed to deposit within 10 days of receipt. The Commission will accept written comments on the request during the 10-day period following publication of the request (no later than July 18) and must issue a response no later than 60 days after the receipt of the complete request, that is, August 29, 2022.

Draft Advisory Opinions

Advisory Opinion Request 2022-06 (Hispanic Leadership Trust) On July 7, the Commission made public a draft advisory opinion in response to a request from the Hispanic Leadership Trust (HLT), a non-connected committee. HLT asks several questions relating to whether HLT would be a leadership PAC if its chair and vice chair were members of Congress, or whether HLT would be affiliated with the chair or vice chair’s leadership PACs.

Advisory Opinion Request 2022-07 (Swalwell) On July 7, the Commission made public a draft advisory opinion in response to Rep. Eric Swalwell. The requestor asks whether he may use campaign funds to pay for overnight childcare expenses incurred when he travels to perform his own campaign duties, to campaign for other candidates, and on information-gathering trips at the invitation of foreign governments and other organizations.

Advisory Opinion Request 2022-09 (Democratic Party of Wisconsin Federal) On July 7, the Commission made public a draft advisory opinion in response to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin Federal, a state political party committee. The requestor asks whether it may establish a joint fundraising committee with a nominee fund that has been established for the eventual Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Wisconsin.

Enforcement

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

MUR 7310

COMPLAINANT: Campaign Legal Center
RESPONDENTS: Mark Takai for Congress and Dylan Beesley, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee); Dylan Beesley; and Lanakila Strategies, LLC (Lanakila)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that the respondents converted campaign funds to personal use when the Committee made monthly disbursements to Beesley’s consulting firm, Lanakila, for consulting services through December 2017 even though the candidate, Mark Takai, died in July 2016 and the Committee conducted no apparent winding-down activities after February 2017. Takai was the Representative for Hawaii’s 1st Congressional District.
DISPOSITION: On June 4, 2019, the Commission found reason to believe that the Committee, Lanakila and Beesley in his personal capacity violated the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended (the Act), by converting campaign funds to personal use and conducted an investigation. On May 26, 2022, the Commission found no probable cause to believe that the Committee, Beesley and Lanakila converted campaign funds to personal use. The Commission closed the file. Chairman Allen Dickerson and Commissioners Sean J. Cooksey and James E. “Trey” Trainor, III and Commissioners Shana M. Broussard and Ellen L. Weintraub issued Statements of Reasons.

MUR 7422

COMPLAINANT: Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington
RESPONDENTS: Greitens for Missouri; American Policy Coalition, Inc. (APC); SEALs for Truth and Nicholas Britt, in his official capacity as treasurer (SFT); Freedom Frontier; LG PAC and Richard Monsees, in his official capacity as treasurer (LG PAC); Eric R. Greitens; Michael Hafner; Nicholas Ayers; Monu Joseph; Austin Chambers; Target Enterprises, LLC; and C5 Creative Consulting, Inc.
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that contributions were made in the name of another when unknown respondents made $6.37 million in contributions to SFT and LG PAC, two federal independent expenditure-only political committees (IEOPCs). The complaint further alleged that SFT and LG PAC failed to disclose the true sources of these contributions to the public, by using APC and Freedom Frontier, two 501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations, as intermediaries to conceal the original sources of the funds. The complaint contends that the IEOPCs used these funds to make donations and disbursements to support Greitens’s 2016 Missouri gubernatorial campaign.
DISPOSITION: The Commission closed the file. Chairman Dickerson and Commissioner Trainor issued Statements of Reasons.

MUR 7728

COMPLAINANTS: Kendra Arnold; and Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust
RESPONDENTS: Burkett for Utah and Mary Burkett, in her official capacity as treasurer (Burkett Committee); Mary Burkett; Stronger for America Fund, Inc. (Stronger America Fund); and Patrick Krason
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that Stronger America Fund, a non-profit corporation controlled by Krason, made, and Burkett and the Burkett Committee accepted, a prohibited in-kind contribution in the form of a coordinated mass text communication that advocated the defeat of Burkett’s opponent. The complaint further alleged that the Burkett Committee failed to report the contribution on its disclosure report. Burkett was a 2020 candidate for Utah’s 2nd Congressional District.
DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the allegations cited in the complaint in observance of the apparent de minimis amount of activity in question.

MUR 7770

COMPLAINANT: Monica Brinson
RESPONDENTS: Singh for Senate and Elizabeth Curtis, in her official capacity as Treasurer (the Singh Committee); Hirsh Singh; Shore News Network (SNN); Phil Stilton; and Recall Murphy/Conservative NJ
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that Singh and the Singh Committee paid SSN and its founder Stilton to publish content in support of Singh and in opposition to Singh’s primary election opponent, Rikin Mehta, without proper disclaimers. The complaint also alleged that SNN made an in-kind contribution to the Singh Committee when it posted content critical of Mehta. The complaint further alleged that the Singh Committee coordinated with SNN to send messages on social media defaming Mehta and that a Facebook group operated by SNN, named Recall Murphy/Conservative NJ, failed to register and report as a political committee. Singh was a 2020 candidate for New Jersey’s United States Senate seat.
DISPOSITION: The Commission closed the file.

MUR 7788

COMPLAINANT: John J. McCann
RESPONDENTS: Pallotta for Congress and Amberle Gilroy, in her official capacity as treasurer (the Committee); Kelly Ann Hart; JerseyConservative.org (Jersey Conservative); SussexCountyWatchdog.com (Sussex County Watchdog); Intellz, Inc.; The Trump Revolution; William Winkler; and Baseline Research
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that the Committee coordinated with two political blogs, Jersey Conservative and Sussex County Watchdog, by reporting payments to Baseline Research, a political consulting company owned by Winkler, that were intended for those blogs to publish stories supporting Pallotta and opposing his opponent. The complaint alleged conversely that the two blogs paid for publication of the articles, resulting in in-kind contributions to the Committee, and that they made another in-kind contribution when they shared an email list with the Committee at no charge. Finally, the complaint alleged that ads supporting Pallotta that appeared on the Trump Revolution Facebook page lacked proper disclaimers and may have been financed impermissibly by a campaign supporter. Pallotta was a 2020 candidate for New Jersey’s 5th Congressional District.
DISPOSITION: The Commission found no reason to believe Jersey Conservative and Sussex County Watchdog made and the Committee knowingly accepted excessive or prohibited in-kind contributions by coordinating blog posts because the content prong of the three-part coordinated communication test was not satisfied since blog posts are neither electioneering nor public communications. The Commission dismissed the allegation that the Committee inaccurately reported disbursements to the two blogs as payments to Baseline Research, noting that there was no information to reasonably suggest that the Committee’s reported payments to Baseline Research were intended to pay for the blog articles. The Commission also dismissed as speculative the allegation in connection with the shared email list. Finally, the Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the allegation concerning Facebook ad disclaimers. The Commission observed that the amount in violation was low and the vendor and subvendor acknowledged responsibility.

MUR 7810

COMPLAINANT: Dan Backer, Esq.; and Patriots of America PAC
RESPONDENTS: Karyn Kay Griffin; and Shout Out America PAC and Mike McCauley, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that Shout Out, a nonfederal political committee founded by Griffin, failed to register as a political committee with the Commission after operating a website that solicited funds to support the reelection of Donald J. Trump for President, failed to include disclaimers on its website and on a printed communication, failed to include best efforts language on the donation page of its website, and improperly solicited corporate contributions.
DISPOSITION: The Commission dismissed the allegation that the Committee failed to register as a political committee based on the short period involved with its untimely registration and the fact that it timely filed its initial disclosure report. The Commission also dismissed the allegation that the Committee failed to include disclaimers on its printed communication as the Committee eventually added full disclaimers on each active page of its website, and the unlikelihood that the general public would have been misled as to who was responsible for the communication. The Commission found no reason to believe the Committee failed to exercise best efforts to obtain contributor information as there was no evidence to indicate the Committee failed to report inaccurate contributor information and the fact that it subsequently added best efforts language to its website donate page. The Commission also found no reason to believe that Griffin and the Committee solicited prohibited corporation contributions since the Committee has since registered with the Commission as an independent expenditure-only political committee, and as such, was permitted to solicit and accept corporate contributions.

MUR 7850

COMPLAINANT: Noah Bookbinder; Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Washington
RESPONDENTS: Freedom First PAC (f/k/a Meadows for Congress) and Collin McMichael, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee); and Mark R. Meadows
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that the Committee converted campaign funds to personal use when it made expenditures after Meadows announced his retirement from Congress in 2019. Meadows was the Representative for North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District before resigning from Congress to serve as Chief of Staff to then-President Donald J. Trump.
DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the allegations the Committee converted campaign funds to personal use. The Commission observed that the available information suggested that most of the disbursements identified in the complaint were for legitimate expenses relating to Meadows’s service as a Member of Congress.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

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

ADR 1078

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: Connecticut Democratic State Central Committee and Roberto Alves, 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 that the Committee failed to maintain monthly payroll logs or equivalent records totaling $111,812 to document the percentage of time each employee spent in connection with a federal election for calendar years 2017 and 2018, and failed to disclose debts and obligations to vendors totaling $33,273.
DISPOSITION: The Committee agreed to 1) develop and certify implementation of a compliance operations manual that includes internal controls; 2) participate in an FEC training program; and 3) pay a civil penalty of $4,000.

ADR 1079

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: Jason Lewis for Senate and Bradley Crate, 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 that the Committee failed to remedy excessive and prohibited 2020 primary and general election contributions totaling $93,700 within the permissible timeframe.
DISPOSITION: The Committee agreed to participate in an FEC training program and pay a civil penalty of $7,000.

Litigation

Campaign Legal Center v. FEC (Case Nos. 22-5140, 22-5167) On July 5 Plaintiff-Appellee filed a Response in Opposition to Motion to Hold Appeals in Abeyance in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Stein, et al. v. FEC (Case No. 21-1213) On July 5, Appellants filed a Corrected Brief in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Outreach

On July 6, Senior Communications Specialist Paul Stoetzer spoke about the functions of the Commission and current challenges in campaign finance law to a delegation of young political leaders from various countries at the headquarters of the Meridian Center for Global Leadership in Washington, DC as part of the U.S. State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP).

Upcoming Commission meetings

July 12 and 14, 2022: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

July 14, 2022: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

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

July 28, 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.

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

Upcoming reporting due dates

July 15: July Quarterly Reports are due. For more information, see the 2022 Quarterly Reporting schedule.

July 20: July 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.