Week of May 30-June 3, 2022

Commission meetings and hearings

No open meetings or executive sessions were scheduled this week.

Advisory Opinions

Requests Received

Advisory Opinion Request 2022-07 (Swalwell) On May 31, the Commission made public an advisory opinion request from Congressman Eric Swalwell and Swalwell for Congress. 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. The Commission will accept written comments on the request during the 10-day period following publication of the request (no later than June 10) and must issue a response no later than 60 days after the receipt of the complete request, that is, by July 25.

Advisory Opinion Request 2022-08 (NRCC) On June 2, the Commission made public an advisory opinion request by the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC). The requestor, a national party committee, asks whether candidates seeking nomination for election to the United States House of Representatives in New York pursuant to a newly scheduled primary election on August 23, 2022 are entitled to a separate contribution limit for the primary election. The Commission will accept written comments on the request during the 10-day period following the publication of the request (no later than June 13) and must issue a response no later than 60 days after the receipt of the complete request, that is, by July 25.

Advisory Opinion Request 2022-09 (Democratic Party of Wisconsin Federal) On June 2, the Commission made public an advisory opinion request from 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. The Commission will accept written comments on the request during the 10-day period following publication of the request (no later than June 13) and must issue a response no later than 60 days after the receipt of the complete request, that is, by August 1.

Draft Advisory Opinions

Advisory Opinion Request 2022-03 (Democracy Engine) On June 1, the Commission made public two draft advisory opinions.

Advisory Opinion Request 2022-04 (Jill Stein for President) On June 1, the Commission made public a draft advisory opinion.

Extensions of time

Advisory Opinion Request 2022-05 (DSCC) On June 1, the requestor agreed to a second extension of time until June 30.

Enforcement

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

MUR 7280

COMPLAINANT: Common Cause
RESPONDENT: Derek Utley
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that an unknown owner of a Facebook page named Elect Trump 2020 (Trump 2020) made independent expenditures in support of President Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign by paying to place communications containing express advocacy on Facebook.
DISPOSITION: The Commission found reason to believe that the respondent failed to report independent expenditures and include proper disclaimers on its advertisements. After further investigation, the Commission found Utley to be the unknown respondent and that the actual amount spent on the advertisements was $483. Based on the amount of the violation and the treatment of similar matters, the Commission took no further action and closed the file. Commissioner James E. “Trey” Trainor, III issued a Statement of Reasons.

MUR 7401

COMPLAINANTS: Karen Piper and Victoria Johnson
RESPONDENTS: George G. Lombardi; America First-Team Manatee, Inc.; Citizens for Trump; Coalition for Trump; Coalition for Trump Superstore; Corey Lewandowski; Donald J. Trump; Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. and Bradley T. Crate in his official capacity as treasurer (Trump Committee); Jack Posobiec; Latinos for Trump (aka Latinos with Trump); Madeline Moreira; Michael Cernovich; Patriotic Warriors LLC; Reince Priebus; Robert Jeter; Sam Clovis; Tim Clark; and Tim Selaty, Sr.
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that (1) Citizens for Trump failed to register and report as a political committee, (2) Citizens for Trump and Coalition for Trump, as well as individuals associated with these organizations, coordinated communications with Trump and the Trump Committee, (3) Posobiec and Cernovich solicited and accepted foreign contributions, and (4) Jeter, through the Coalition for Trump and Coalition for Trump Superstore, fraudulently solicited contributions by suggesting that they were organizations authorized by the Trump campaign.
DISPOSITION: On July 11, 2019, the Commission found reason to believe that Citizens for Trump, an organization co-founded by Selaty, Sr., through his company, Patriotic Warriors, LLC, failed to register and report as a political committee and it instituted an investigation. The Commission found no reason to believe that Posobiec and Cernovich solicited, accepted, or received foreign national contributions. The Commission dismissed the allegations that America First-Team Manatee, Inc., Citizens for Trump, Coalition for Trump, Coalition for Trump Superstore, Lewandowski, Trump, the Trump Committee, Lombardi, Posobiec, Latinos for Trump, Moreira, Cernovich, Patriotic Warriors LLC, Preibus, Jeter, Clovis, Clark, and Selaty, Sr. made and accepted prohibited contributions in the form of coordinated communications or expenditures. The Commission was equally divided on the allegation that Coalition for Trump, Coalition for Trump Superstore, and Jeter fraudulently solicited contributions. On April 28, 2022, the Commission voted to take no further action against Citizens for Trump and dismissed the allegations that Lombardi failed to register and report as a political committee, as well as the allegation regarding the fraudulent solicitation of funds. On April 28, the Commission closed the file in connection with all the respondents.

MUR 7783

COMPLAINANT: Campaign Legal Center
RESPONDENTS: Byron Donalds for Congress and Bradley T. Crate, in his official capacity as Treasurer; Byron Donalds; Friends of Byron Donalds and Noreen Fenner, Treasurer (FBD); Conservatives for Effective Government and David Ramba, Treasurer (CFEG)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleges that Donalds established and controlled FBD, a state committee, and through a series of transactions involving another state committee, CFEG, he transferred non-federal funds to a federal independent expenditure-only political committee, Trusted Conservatives, to support his candidacy. The complaint alleged further that CFEG made a contribution in the name of another, and FBD knowingly permitted its name to be used to make such a contribution. Donalds was a 2020 candidate for Florida’s 19th Congressional District.
DISPOSITION: The Commission closed the file. Chairman Allen Dickerson and Commissioners Sean J. Cooksey and Trainor issued a Statement of Reasons.

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 1061

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: WFP IE Committee (f/k/a Working Families Party National Independent Expenditure Committee) and Mike Boland, 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 committed a series of reporting errors and other violations during the 2019-2020 election cycle. These included, among other items, failure to file reports and late filing; mathematical discrepancies; failure to provide supporting schedules; failure to properly itemize contributions and transfers from political committees; failure to properly itemize disbursements; independent expenditure reporting problems and failure to disclose all financial activity on its 2020 October Quarterly Report.
DISPOSITION: The Committee agreed to 1) amend relevant 2019-2020 reports to address any inadequate responses and nonresponses to requests for additional information from the Commission; 2) certify internal control procedures for a period of two years or until such time as the Committee is approved for termination; and 3) pay a civil penalty of $54,925.

Administrative Fines

The Commission made public 10 closed cases, as follows. For more information, see the case documents in the Administrative Fine Search System.

AF 4091 People4America Federal Committee and Brian Herman, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $6,735.

AF 4240 Mises PAC and Kyle Burton, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $7,907.

AF 4255 Greg Lirette for Congress and Kevin Kitchen, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $6,735.

AF 4256 Hank Gilbert for Congress and Peyton Gilbert, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $704.

AF 4257 Jimmy Rodriguez for Congress and Jimmy Rodriguez, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $26,190.

AF 4258 Jineea for Congress and Anita Meador, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed no civil penalty.

AF 4259 Reba for Congress and Bryon Fredrick McComb, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $20,202.

AF 4261 William Sanchez for US Senate and Marcia Rodriguez, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $1,267.

AF 4263 Associations Inc. PAC/Associa PAC and John Krueger, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $373.

AF 4264 Common Good PAC and Michael Norman, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $2,345.

Public Disclosure

On May 31, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released its Semiannual Report to Congress (October 1, 2021-March 31, 2022).

On May 31, OIG released a Management Letter for OIG Special Review of the Federal Election Commission (FEC) Contracting Officers Representative (COR) Program.

Litigation

Campaign Legal Center v. FEC (Case No. 21-406) On May 24, Plaintiff filed an Opposition to Heritage Action’s Motion for Leave to Intervene and on May 27, Heritage Action filed a Reply in Support of Expedited Motion of Heritage Action to Intervene in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Upcoming Commission meetings

June 7, 2022: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

June 8, 2022: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

June 22, 2022: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

June 23, 2022: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

Upcoming educational programs

June 15, 2022: The Commission will host a webinar for trade associations and their PACs.

June 22, 2022: The Commission will host reporting and FECFile webinars for candidates.

June 29, 2022: The Commission will host a FECFile webinar for party committees and political action committees.

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

June 20: June 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.