Week of June 26-30, 2023

Commission meetings and hearings

No open meetings or executive sessions were scheduled this week.

Advisory Opinions

Request Received

Advisory Opinion Request 2023-05 (Alamo PAC) On June 27, the Commission made public an advisory opinion request from Alamo PAC, the leadership PAC of U.S. Senator John Cornyn. Alamo PAC asks whether it may establish a separate account with its own contribution limit. The Commission will accept written comments on the request during the 10-day period following publication of the request (no later than July 7) and must issue a response no later than 60 days after receipt of the complete request, specifically August 15, 2023.

Enforcement

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

MUR 8092

COMPLAINANT: Self-Reported
RESPONDENTS: Aspen Lodging Group LLC d/b/a Provenance Hotels (Provenance); Bashar Wali; Eileen Wali; and Leslie Lew
SUBJECT: This matter arose from a sua sponte submission submitted to the Commission by Provenance and a joint supplemental sua sponte submission from Provenance and its former President, Bashar Wali, which disclosed that in 2018 and 2019, Provenance unlawfully reimbursed Wali for contributions totaling $106,038 made in the names of Wali, his wife Eileen Wali, and Provenance’s former Vice President of Revenue, Leslie Lew. Provenance made the reimbursements via three $50,000 bonus payments paid to Wali in 2019.
DISPOSITION: The Commission entered into conciliation agreements providing for Provenance to pay a civil penalty of $28,500 and for Bashar Wali to pay a civil penalty of $27,500. The Commission voted to take no action as to Eileen Wali and Leslie Lew and closed the file.

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 1096

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: McConnell Senate Committee and Larry J. Steinberg, 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 remedy excessive contributions totaling $97,262.48 within the permissible timeframe.
DISPOSITION: The Committee agreed to participate in an FEC training program and pay a civil penalty of $7,225.

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 4642 Pat Ryan for Congress and Wyatt Brown, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $3,736.

AF 4643 Joe Kent for Congress and Thomas C. Datwyler, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $3,304.

Audits

Final Audit Report of the Commission on Latinos for America First On June 26, the Commission made public the Final Audit Report of the Commission on Latinos for America First, covering campaign finance activity from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2020. The Commission approved findings related to Misstatement of Financial Activity, Increased Activity, and Disclosure of Occupation and/or Name of Employer.

Litigation

Campaign Legal Center, et al. v. FEC (Case No. 22-5336) On June 23, Plaintiffs-Appellees filed a Response Brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Outreach

On June 27-28, Commissioner Ellen L. Weintraub participated in the Collision Conference in Toronto, Canada, appearing on a panel on technology and democracy.

On June 28, the Commission hosted a FECFile webinar for candidate committees.

Employment Opportunities

The Commission is accepting applications for the position of Auditor through January 2, 2024. For more information, see the job posting at https://www.usajobs.gov/job/696625100.

Upcoming Commission meetings and hearings

July 11, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

July 13, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

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

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

Upcoming educational programs

July 12, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to host an FECConnect OnTopic discussion on PAC and Party Registration. Participation is free, but registration is required. To register, please email ontopic@fec.gov.

July 19, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to host a FECFile webinar for PACs and party committees.

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 2023 Quarterly Reporting schedule.

July 20: July Monthly Reports are due. For more information, see the 2023 Monthly Reporting schedule.

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