Week of November 27 – December 1, 2023

Commission meetings and hearings

No open meetings or executive sessions were scheduled this week.

Advisory Opinions

Extension of time

Advisory Opinion Request 2023-10 (Sony Pictures Television Inc.) On November 29, the Commission made public an extension of time from the requestor.

Enforcement

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

MUR 8022

COMPLAINANT: Campaign Legal Center
RESPONDENTS: MEI Services, Inc. (MEI); and Patriots PAC, LLC, and Melvin Johnson, in his official capacity as treasurer (Patriots PAC)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that MEI made and Patriots PAC accepted a prohibited contribution while MEI was a federal contractor in 2022.
DISPOSITION: The Commission entered into a conciliation agreement providing for MEI to pay a civil penalty of $22,000. The Commission dismissed the allegation that Patriots PAC knowingly solicited a contribution from a federal contractor.

MUR 8027

COMPLAINANT: Dennis Lynn Sweet
RESPONDENTS: Schmitt for Senate and Janna Rutland, in her official capacity as treasurer (Federal Committee); Schmitt for Missouri (State Committee); Eric Schmitt; Save Missouri Values and Cabell Hobbs in his official capacity as treasurer (Save Missouri Values); Axiom Strategies, LLC; and Remington Research Group, LLC
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that Schmitt and the Federal Committee used assets from the State Committee in connection with Schmitt’s 2022 campaign for Missouri’s U.S. Senate seat, and that they accepted possibly excessive and prohibited in-kind contributions from Save Missouri Values, an independent expenditure-only political committee, and two research companies, Axiom Strategies, LLC, and Remington Research Group, LLC.
DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the allegations that Schmitt, the Federal Committee, and the State Committee used non-federal funds or transferred non-federal assets in connection with a federal campaign and that the Federal Committee failed to report receipt of the resulting in-kind contributions. The Commission found no reason to believe Save Missouri Values made and failed to report, or the Federal Committee accepted and failed to report, excessive and prohibited in-kind contributions by producing coordinated communications, because the activity at issue failed to satisfy the Commission’s three-pronged test for coordinated communications. The Commission further found no reason to believe Axiom Strategies, LLC, and Remington Research Group, LLC, made, and the Federal Committee knowingly accepted, prohibited or excessive in-kind contributions in connection with the publication of polling results and no reason to believe the Federal Committee failed to report those in-kind contributions because there is no information available showing that the Federal Committee engaged either company to conduct polling on its behalf or that it coordinated the polling or its release with either company.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

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

ADR 1120

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: Michigan Peoples Choice and Kenneth Whittaker, 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 disclose $268,000 in additional receipts on its original 2022 July Quarterly Report.
DISPOSITION: The Committee agreed to 1) develop and certify implementation of a compliance operations manual which includes internal controls; 2) participate in an FEC training program; 3) disclose a transfer of $268,000 of Committee funds made on August 16, 2023, on its 2023 Year-End Report; and 4) pay a civil penalty of $8,500.

ADR 1125

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: Field Team 6 and Beverly Grossman Palmer, 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 disclose all financial activity on its 2022 October Quarterly Report and its 2022 12-Day Pre-General Report.
DISPOSITION: The Committee agreed to 1) develop and certify implementation and distribution of a policy document to be provided to Committee staff detailing the Committee’s reporting procedures for contributions received to ensure timely and accurate reporting, 2) participate in an FEC training program, and 3) pay a civil penalty of $14,450.

ADR 1126

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: Organizing Empowerment PAC and Michael Pfohl, 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 timely file one 48-Hour Report to support one independent expenditure totaling $59,626.28, disclosed on its Amended 2022 October Quarterly Report, and whether the Committee failed to timely file three 48-Hour Reports to support six independent expenditures totaling $119,221.63, disclosed on its Amended 2022 12-Day Pre-General Report.
DISPOSITION: The Committee agreed to develop and certify implementation of a compliance operations manual, which includes procedures for disclosing independent expenditures and internal controls, and to pay a civil penalty of $8,875.

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 4550 Outdoor Advertising Association of America Political Action Committee and Michael S. Hershey, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $164.

AF 4551 Patriots PAC LLC and Melvin Johnson, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed no civil penalty.

AF 4552 Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions Association PAC and Arnold Seto, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $822.

AF 4553 Support American Leaders PAC and Matthew Nelson Tunstall, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed no civil penalty.

AF 4554 The Mosaic Company Political Action Committee (MosaicPAC) and Connie Shroyer, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $402.

AF 4555 The Right Group and Barbara Kennedy, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $483.

AF 4556 The Seasonal Employer PAC and Peter Delany, Jr., in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $483.

AF 4557 Together We Thrive and Christopher Zullo, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $19,270.

AF 4558 Votesane PAC and James Williams, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $5,994.

AF 4559 Women Vote Smart and Amy S. Kremer, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed no civil penalty.

Audits

Final Audit Report of the Commission on Citizens for Waters On November 29, the Commission made public the Final Audit Report of the Commission on Citizens for Waters, covering campaign finance activity from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2020. The Commission approved findings related to Misstatement of Financial Activity, Receipt of Contributions in Excess of the Limit, and Cash Disbursements.

Public Disclosure

On November 30, the Office of the Inspector General released its Semiannual Report to Congress April 1, 2023 to September 30, 2023.

Upcoming Commission meetings and hearings

December 12 and 14, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

December 14, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

Upcoming educational programs

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

Upcoming reporting due dates

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

Additional research materials

Election Dates: The Commission has posted Preliminary 2024 Presidential and Congressional Primary Dates, which are subject to change.

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.