Week of May 15-19, 2023

Commission meetings and hearings

On May 16, the Commission met in executive session.

On May 18, the Commission held an open meeting.

Enforcement

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

MUR 7574

COMPLAINANT: Valerie L. Watson
RESPONDENT: Gregory Gandrud; Gandrud Financial Services Corporation (GFS); and Santa Barbara Republican Party and Ronald Hurd, in his official capacity as treasurer (SBGOP)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that Gandrud and GFS comingled SBGOP funds with GFS’s corporate funds and improperly withheld fees for issuing paychecks to the SBGOP employees. The complaint also alleged that SBGOP misreported the purpose of payments to GFS by not properly reporting the disbursements as payments for committee staff salary.
DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the allegations.

MUR 7629

COMPLAINANTS: Self-Reported; and Jan Barrow
RESPONDENTS: Vincent Ross Spano; Ross Spano for Congress and Robert Phillips, III in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee); Cary Carreno; and Karen L. Hunt
SUBJECT: This matter involved Vincent Ross Spano, a 2018 candidate for Florida’s 15th Congressional District, and his receipt of $180,000 in unsecured loans from personal friends Carreno and Hunt from June to October 2018 during the period he was campaigning for office. Soon after receiving the funds, Spano transferred $164,500 to the Committee, which was his principal campaign committee, in what was subsequently reported as loans from the candidate’s personal funds. Respondents filed a sua sponte submission with the Commission to resolve potential violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended (the Act). The complaint in MUR 7629 was filed after respondents’ sua sponte submission and alleged that the Committee’s failure to refund or disgorge the funds derived from Carreno’s and Hunt’s loans constituted further violations of the Act.
DISPOSITION: The Commission found reason to believe that Spano and the Committee accepted excessive contributions, misreported the candidate loans, and failed to timely refund or disgorge the excessive contributions. The Commission entered into a conciliation agreement providing for the Committee to amend its disclosure reports in order to accurately report the receipt of the contributions and the true source of the funds used to make the candidate loans, and for Spano to pay a civil penalty of $30,000. The Commission voted to dismiss with admonishment the allegation that Carreno and Hunt made excessive contributions to Spano.

MURs 7631 and 7634

COMPLAINANTS: Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust and Kendra Arnold; and Campaign Legal Center and Margaret Christ
RESPONDENTS: Bill de Blasio; De Blasio 2020 and Herbert Block, in his official capacity as treasurer; Fairness PAC and Herbert Block, in his official capacity as treasurer (Fairness PAC); and NY Fairness PAC
SUBJECT: The complaints alleged that two political committees established by then-New York City mayor Bill de Blasio, the federal Fairness PAC and nonfederal NY Fairness PAC, funded exploratory activity and made other contributions to de Blasio’s 2020 primary campaign for U.S. president in excess of federal contribution limits. The complaints alleged further that 25 individuals made excessive contributions to de Blasio’s campaign.
DISPOSITION: The Commission entered into a conciliation agreement providing for the respondents to pay a civil penalty of $53,100 and for De Blasio 2020 to amend its disclosure reports to correctly report all information concerning the contributions received from Fairness PAC and NY Fairness PAC and the testing-the-waters expenditures and disbursements described in the agreement. The Commission voted to take no further action with respect to Bill De Blasio and closed the file.

MUR 7746

COMPLAINANT: Raizel Cohn
RESPONDENT: Maureen for Congress and Kevin G. McCardle, in official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that the Committee failed to include disclaimers stating that the Committee had paid for its Facebook posts, the Committee’s website, including the donation page on that website, and a fundraiser solicitation. The complaint further alleged that the Committee failed to include other required notices on its donation page and fundraising solicitation regarding contribution limits, authorized contributions, or that the Committee is required to use its best efforts to obtain and report certain information about contributors.
DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the matter.

MUR 7940

COMPLAINANT: Jason Henry
RESPONDENT: Americans for Parnell Committee and Kayla Glaze, in her official capacity as treasurer (the Committee); and Richard Sean Parnell
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that the Committee converted campaign funds to personal use when it purchased books authorized by Parnell and promoted those books on its social media accounts. Parnell was a 2022 candidate for U.S. Senate from Pennsylvania.
DISPOSITION: The Commission found no reason to believe the respondents converted campaign funds to personal use by purchasing copies of Parnell’s books. The Commission dismissed, as a matter of prosecutorial discretion, the allegation that the respondents converted campaign funds by promoting Parnell’s books through social media posts. Vice Chairman Sean J. Cooksey issued a Supplemental Statement of Reasons.

MUR 8010

COMPLAINANT: Campaign Legal Center
RESPONDENTS: Medical Place, Inc.; and Alabama Conservatives Fund and Kaylen Elton, in her official capacity as treasurer (ACF)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that Medical Place, a federal government contractor, made two prohibited contributions, totaling $100,000, to ACF, an independent expenditure-only political committee.
DISPOSITION: The Commission entered into a conciliation agreement providing for Medical Place, Inc. to pay a civil penalty of $17,500. The Commission found no reason to believe that ACF knowingly solicited a federal contractor contribution.

MUR 8063

COMPLAINANT: Dennis E. Free
RESPONDENT: Michael H. Lewis
SUBJECT: The Complaint alleged that Lewis paid $650 for a newspaper advertisement in support of re-electing Congressperson Elaine Luria (VA-2) that lacked the appropriate disclaimers.
DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the matter.

Litigation

National Republican Senatorial Committee, et al. v. FEC, et al. (Case No. 22-639) On May 17, Plaintiffs filed a Motion to Certify Question to the En Banc Court of Appeals and a Memorandum of Law in Support of Plaintiffs’ Motion to Certify Question to the En Banc Court of Appeals in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.

Ready for Ron v. FEC (Case No. 22-3282) On May 17, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order denying Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment on its Non-First Amendment claims and denying Plaintiff’s Motion for a Preliminary Injunction on its First Amendment claims.

Regulations and agency procedures

Interim Final Rule Amending 11 CFR § 110.4(b)(1)(iii) On May 18, the Commission approved an Interim Final Rule Amending 11 C.F.R. § 110.4(b)(1)(iii), on knowingly helping or assisting any person in making a contribution in the name of another. The interim final rule is intended to conform to a 2018 Order by the United States District Court for the District of Utah, which declared that regulatory provision to be unlawful and ordered it to be stricken from the Code of Federal Regulations. The Commission received one comment on the agenda document. The Commission is accepting written comments on the interim final rule to be filed at http://sers.fec.gov/fosers, referencing REG 2018-06, or submitted in paper form addressed to the Federal Election Commission, Attn.: Amy L. Rothstein, Assistant General Counsel, 1050 First Street, NE, Washington, DC 20463. The comment deadline will be announced once the Interim Final Rule is published in the Federal Register.

2024 Presidential Candidate Matching Fund Submission Dates and Post Date of Ineligibility Dates To Submit Statements of Net Outstanding Campaign Obligations. On May 16, the Commission published in the Federal Register the matching fund submission dates for publicly funded 2024 presidential primary candidates and the dates on which publicly funded 2024 presidential primary candidates must submit their statements of net outstanding campaign obligations after their dates of ineligibility.

REG 2021-01 (Candidate Salaries) This week, the Commission made public additional public comments received in response to the Commission’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on proposed changes to its regulations regarding the use of campaign funds by a candidate’s principal campaign committee to pay compensation to the candidate, which was published December 12, 2022 in the Federal Register.

Press releases

FEC approves Interim Final Rule regarding contributions in the name of another (issued May 18)

District Court issues opinion in Ready for Ron v. FEC (issued May 18)

Outreach

On May 16-17, the Commission held a webinar for candidate committees.

Employment opportunities

The Commission is accepting applications for the position of Management and Program Analyst through May 30, 2023.

The Commission is accepting applications for the position of Campaign Finance Analyst through June 2, 2023.

The Commission is accepting applications for the position of Paralegal Specialist through June 9, 2023.

Public Disclosure

The Commission has debuted its 2024 Presidential Map, listing data for presidential candidates who have reported more than $100,000 in receipts from sources outside of the candidate’s own funds. The map displays each candidate's overall receipts, including contributions from the candidate, individuals, and other political committees as well as transfers from the candidate's prior federal campaigns.

Upcoming Commission meetings and hearings

May 31, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

June 1, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

June 21, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

June 22, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

Upcoming educational programs

June 7, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to host a webinar for nonconnected PACs.

June 28, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to host a FECFile webinar for candidate committees.

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

Upcoming reporting due dates

May 20: May 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.

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.