Week of November 6 – 10, 2023

Commission meetings and hearings

No open meetings or executive sessions were scheduled this week.

Advisory Opinions

Draft Advisory Opinion

Advisory Opinion Request 2023-07 (Upshur County Republican Executive Committee) On November 9, the Commission made public a draft advisory opinion.

Request Received

Advisory Opinion Request 2023-09 (Senator Catherine Cortez Masto) On November 6, the Commission made public an advisory opinion request from Senator Catherine Cortez Masto. The requestor asks whether she may establish a state political committee that will raise and spend funds exclusively to engage in nonfederal election activity without sharing a contribution limit with her existing federal leadership PAC. The Commission will accept written comments on the request during the 10-day period following publication of the request (no later than November 16, 2023) and must issue a response no later than January 5, 2024.

Enforcement

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

MURs 7931 and 8059

COMPLAINANTS: Committee to Defeat the President; Caitlin Sutherland; and Americans for Public Trust
RESPONDENTS: Joseph R. Biden, Jr.; Biden for President and Keana Spencer, in her official capacity as treasurer (the Committee); and Biden Victory Fund and Monica Guardiola, in her official capacity as treasurer (Victory Fund)
SUBJECT: The complaints alleged that Biden became a 2024 presidential candidate prior to his April 2023 formal announcement and failed to timely file a Statement of Candidacy after surpassing the $5,000 threshold for candidacy via contributions made to and disbursements made by the Committee and the Victory Fund and that the Committee and Victory Fund failed to make necessary changes to their Statements of Organization to reflect Biden’s 2024 candidacy. Additional information also appeared to indicate that the Victory Fund failed to report a debt.
DISPOSITION: The Commission found no reason to believe violations occurred in connection with the allegations put forth in the complaints. The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the allegation that the Victory Fund failed to report a debt. Chair Dara Lindenbaum and Commissioners Shana M. Broussard and Ellen L. Weintraub and Vice Chairman Sean J. Cooksey and Commissioners Allen J. Dickerson and James E. “Trey” Trainor, III issued Statements of Reasons.

MURs 7968 and 7969

COMPLAINANTS: Jessica Floyd; AB PAC; and John Anthony Castro
RESPONDENTS: Donald J. Trump; Save America and Bradley T. Crate, in his official capacity as treasurer (Save America); Trump Save America Joint Fundraising Committee and Bradley T. Crate, in his official capacity as treasurer (Save America JFC); and Make America Great Again PAC and Bradley T. Crate, in his official capacity as treasurer (MAGA PAC)
SUBJECT: The complaints alleged that Trump became a 2024 presidential candidate prior to his November 2022 formal announcement and failed to timely file a Statement of Candidacy after surpassing the $5,000 threshold for candidacy via improperly using a leadership PAC, Save America, and Save America JFC to raise and spend funds to further his campaign. The complaint in MUR 7969 also alleged that MAGA PAC accepted contributions on behalf of Trump’s alleged 2024 candidacy.
DISPOSITION: The Commission closed the file. Commissioner Weintraub and Vice Chairman Cooksey and Commissioners Dickerson and Trainor issued Statements of Reasons.

MUR 8066

COMPLAINANTS: Burgess 4 Utah (the Committee) and Summur-Rayn Berrett
RESPONDENT: Mike McCauley
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that McCauley, the Committee’s former treasurer, was liable in his personal capacity for the Committee’s impermissible acceptance of $92,604.26 in excessive contributions that it failed to timely remedy.
DISPOSITION: The Commission found no reason to believe that McCauley violated the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended (the Act), in his personal capacity because there was no indication that McCauley engaged in knowing and willful conduct or that he was reckless in fulfilling his duties as treasurer.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

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

ADR 1117

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: GALEO Impact Fund PAC and Clara Elena Puerta Navarro, 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 two 24-Hour Reports supporting two independent expenditures totaling $64,657.30.
DISPOSITION: The Committee agreed to 1) develop and certify implementation of a compliance operations manual which includes procedures for disclosing independent expenditures and internal controls, 2) participate in an FEC training program, and 3) pay a civil penalty of $4,850.

ADR 1118

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: Paid Leave PAC and Yolanda Brown, 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 additional receipts totaling $54,200 on its original 2022 October Quarterly Report.
DISPOSITION: The Committee agreed to participate in an FEC training program and pay a civil penalty of $3,200.

Regulations and agency procedures

Request for Public Comment on Improvements to Report Filing Processes and Website Usability. On September 13, the Commission published a Notification in the Federal Register, seeking public comment on ways to improve its report filing processes and public-facing website. All comments must be in writing. Commenters may submit comments by email to publiccomment2023-14@fec.gov. All commenters must provide, at a minimum, their first name, last name, city, and state. All properly submitted comments, including attachments, will become part of the public record, and the Commission will make comments available for public viewing on the Commission’s website and in the Commission’s Public Records Office. Comments are due by November 13, 2023.

Directive Regarding Investigations Conducted by the Office of General Counsel On November 9, Commissioner Weintraub issued a Statement.

REG 2023-02: Artificial Intelligence in Campaign Ads The Commission has made public comments that it received in response to a Notification of Availability of a Petition for Rulemaking filed by Public Citizen. The Petition asks the Commission to amend its regulation on fraudulent misrepresentation of campaign authority to make clear that the related statutory prohibition applies to deliberately deceptive Artificial Intelligence campaign ads.

Upcoming Commission meetings and hearings

November 14, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

November 16, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

December 12, 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

November 15, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to host webinars on Independent Expenditures and Reporting Independent Expenditures using FECFile.

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

Upcoming reporting due dates

November 20: November 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.