Week of November 17 - November 21, 2014

Weekly Digest

Week of November 17 – 21

COMMISSION MEETINGS AND HEARINGS

On November 18, the Commission held an executive session.

On November 20, the Commission held an open audit hearing on the Republican Party of Orange County (Federal).  Click here for audio recordings for selected meetings, hearings and presentations.

The open meeting previously scheduled for November 20 was cancelled.

ENFORCEMENT

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

MUR 6826
COMPLAINANT:  John D. Seaman
RESPONDENTS: Sanje Sedera; Committee to Elect Sanje Sedera; and Malraj de Silva
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that de Silva made and Sedera and the Committee to Elect Sanje Sedera (the Committee) accepted a prohibited, in-kind contribution from a foreign national when de Silva hosted a fundraiser at his home. Sedera was a 2014 candidate for the Nevada State Assembly.
DISPOSITION: The Commission found no reason to believe that de Silva made and the Committee accepted a prohibited contribution because de Silva does not appear to be a foreign national.

MUR 6837
COMPLAINANT: Jesse Bohman, Campaign Manager for the Committee to Elect Stephen A. Labate, Inc.
RESPONDENTS: Grant Lally for Congress and Christopher Nolan, in his official capacity as treasurer
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that Grant Lally for Congress and Nolan, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee), solicited funds based on a fraudulent representation that the Nassau County Executive had endorsed Lally. Lally was a 2014 primary election candidate for New York’s 3rd Congressional District.
DISPOSITION: The Commission found no reason to believe the Committee made a fraudulent representation in its solicitation of funds because the prohibition on fraudulent representation applies to a person fraudulently misrepresenting himself or herself as speaking on behalf of a federal candidate and the Nassau County Executive is a local elected official, not a federal candidate.

AUDITS

Addendum to the Final Audit Report on Committee on Arrangements for the 2012 Republican National Convention.  On November 17, the Commission made public an Addendum to the Final Audit Report on Committee on Arrangements for the 2012 Republican National Convention, covering campaign finance activity between June 22, 2010 and July 31, 2014. The Commission approved a revised finding related to net outstanding convention expenses.

LITIGATION 

Public Citizen, et al. v. FEC (Case 14-5199). On November 20, the Proposed-Intervenor-Appellant Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies filed a Corrected Opening Brief in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Rufer, et al. v. FEC (Case 14-5240) and Republican National Committee, et al., v. FEC (Case 14-5241). On November 19, the plaintiffs in No. 14-5241 filed a Stipulation Dismissing Republican Plaintiffs in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Stop Reckless Economic Instability caused by Democrats, et al. v. FEC (Case 1:14-cv-00397-AJT-IDD). On November 14, the Commission filed its Supplemental Factual Submission and Briefing Pertaining to Intervenor American Future PAC in Support of the Commission''''s Motion for Summary Judgment in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.  On the same day, Intervenor-Plaintiff American Future PAC filed its Supplemental Proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law. 

EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS

On November 19, the Commission hosted a Webinar on Post-General Reporting & Winding Down the Campaign.

OUTREACH

On November 17, Chairman Lee E. Goodman participated in a panel discussion with former Commissioner Robert D. Lenhard on campaign finance law and overall spending in the 2014 mid-term elections. The discussion was hosted by the Harvard Journal on Legislation.

PUBLIC DISCLOSURE

On November 18, the Commission’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) made public its Fiscal Year 2014 Financial Statement Audit Report.

On November 20, the Commission’s OIG made public its Inspector General Statement on the Commission’s Management and Performance Challenges - 2014.

UPCOMING COMMISSION MEETINGS

December 9: The Commission is scheduled to hold an executive session.

December 11: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

Meeting dates are subject to change. Please contact the Press Office the week of the scheduled meeting for confirmation.

UPCOMING REPORTING DUE DATES

December 4: Post-General Reports are due. For information on general election reporting dates, refer to the 2014 General Election Reporting page of the Commission website.

OTHER RESOURCES

The 2014 edition of the Combined Federal State Disclosure and Election Directory is available in the Public Records section of the Commission website. 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 2014 edition of Title 11 of the Code of Federal Regulations can be downloaded from the website.  To order printed copies, call (800) 424-9530 (press 6) or send an email to info@fec.gov.

The 2013 Legislative Recommendations are available on the Commission’s website.

The 2014 edition of the Federal Election Commission Campaign Guide for Congressional Candidates and Committees is available on the Commission’s website.

The August 2013 edition of the Federal Election Commission Campaign Guide for Political Party Committees is available on the Commission’s website.

The Official 2012 Presidential General Election Results are available in the Library section of the website. This listing was compiled from the official election results published by state election offices.

An index to Record news articles published is available on the Commission website. The Record news page is available in the Publications section of the Commission website. Sign up to receive email notification when new articles are posted.

The FEC Annual Reports from 1975-2006 are available on the website. Beginning in 2007, the Commission consolidated its Annual Report with its Performance and Accountability Report (PAR) to provide a single account of the agency’s activities for each fiscal year.

Instructional videos are available on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/FECTube?feature=watch. These videos are also available on the Commission’s E-Learning resources page at http://www.fec.gov/info/elearning.shtml.

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