Week of May 29-June 2, 2023

Commission meetings and hearings

On May 31 and June 1, the Commission met in executive session.

The Commission voted to cancel the open meeting scheduled for June 1.

Enforcement

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

MUR 7881

COMPLAINANT: Jay Stone
RESPONDENTS: USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy (the Institute); Arnold Schwarzenegger; Carol Folt; Dana Goldman; Christian Grose; and Conyers Davis
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that the Institute, Schwarzenegger, Folt, Goldman, Grose, and Davis made excessive and prohibited corporate in-kind contributions to Biden for President, Joe Biden’s 2020 principal campaign committee, by funding or awarding grants to state and local election administrators to help them address the challenges of holding an election during the COVID-19 pandemic. The complaint alleged that the true purpose of the grants was to increase votes for Biden in swing states to help him win the election. The complaint further alleged that Schwarzenegger remained in control of the funds after he made the donation to the Institute.
DISPOSITION: The Commission found no reason to believe that 1) Schwarzenegger made an excessive individual contribution, 2) the Institute made a prohibited corporate contribution, or 3) Folt, Grose, Davis, and Goldman consented to prohibited corporate contributions because there was insufficient information in the complaint to support the allegations and because the grants in question appear to have been awarded in a manner consistent with the Institute’s stated purpose and past initiatives.

MUR 7987

COMPLAINANT: William J. Palatucci, Kean for Congress, Inc.
RESPONDENT: Phil Rizzo for Congress and David Satterfield, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that the Committee failed to include required disclaimers on robocalls. Rizzo was a 2022 primary candidate for New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District.
DISPOSITION: On January 24, 2023, the Commission found reason to believe that the Committee failed to include required disclaimers on public communications and initiated an investigation. On May 2, 2023, after further considering the circumstances of the matter, the Commission voted to take no further action as to the allegation and closed the file. Vice Chairman Sean J. Cooksey and Commissioners Allen J. Dickerson and James E. “Trey” Trainor, III issued a Supplemental Statement of Reasons.

Litigation

Campaign Legal Center, et al. v. FEC (Case No. 22-5336) On May 31, Former FEC Chair and Commissioner Lee E. Goodman filed a Brief of Amicus Curiae in Support of Appellant in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Outreach

On May 30, Commissioner Ellen L. Weintraub discussed the role and work of the Commission with students from Villanova University.

Public Disclosure

On May 30, the Office of the Inspector General released its Semiannual Report to Congress, October 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023.

Employment opportunities

The Commission is accepting applications for the position of Human Resources Specialist through June 14, 2023.

Upcoming Commission meetings and hearings

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

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

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

July 13, 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.

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

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

Upcoming reporting due dates

June 20: June 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.