Week of October 10-14, 2022

Commission meetings and hearings

No open meetings or executive sessions were scheduled this week.

Advisory Opinions

Request Received

Advisory Opinion Request 2022-24 (Allen Blue) On October 11, the Commission made public an advisory opinion request from Allen Blue. The requestor asks whether an irrevocable trust he plans to establish may contribute to federal candidates and political committees, and, if so, how contributions from the trust should be attributed. The Commission will accept written comments on the request during the 10-day period following publication of the request (no later than October 21) and must issue a response no later than 60 days after the receipt of the complete request, that is, by December 5, 2022.

Comment and Extension of Time Received and Draft Advisory Opinion

Advisory Opinion Request 2022-21 (DSCC, Bennet for Colorado, and People for Patty Murray) This week, the Commission made public one comment on the advisory opinion request. On October 13, the Commission received an extension of time from the requestor.

Enforcement

The Commission made public two closed cases and one additional Statement of Reasons, as follows. For more information, see the case documents in the Enforcement Query System.

MUR 7905

COMPLAINANT: UtePAC
RESPONDENT: Robert George Lucero Jr.
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that Lucero, in his personal capacity, failed to keep complete records and file accurate reports with the Commission while he was the treasurer of UtePAC, a nonconnected political committee, from September 2016 until February 2020. The complaint further alleged that Lucero impermissibly commingled UtePAC’s funds with personal funds when he transferred money from UtePAC to American Systems Group, LLC, a company that Lucero founded and controlled.
DISPOSITION: The Commission found reason to believe Lucero failed to keep complete records and file accurate reports and entered into a conciliation agreement providing for Lucero to pay a civil penalty of $3,500. The Commission found no reason to believe that Lucero commingled UtePAC’s funds with his personal funds because there was no information to support that allegation.

MUR 8012

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENTS: Black Voters Matter Action PAC and Kamau Franklin, in his 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 that the Committee failed to timely file 24-hour reports for independent expenditures in support of two candidates in connection with the January 5, 2021 Runoff and Special-Runoff Elections in Georgia.
DISPOSITION: The Commission entered into a conciliation agreement providing for the Committee to pay a civil penalty of $45,000.

MUR 6589R (American Action Network) On October 12, Chairman Allen Dickerson issued a Supplemental Statement of Reasons.

Audits

Final Audit Report of the Commission on the Kentucky State Democratic Central Executive Committee. On October 13, the Commission made public the Final Audit Report of the Commission on the Kentucky State Democratic Central Executive Committee, covering campaign finance activity between January 1, 2017 and December 31, 2018. The approved findings related to misstatement of financial activity and recordkeeping for employees.

Litigation

Common Cause Georgia, et al. v. FEC (Case No. 22-3067) On October 10, Plaintiffs filed a Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Outreach

On October 12, Chairman Dickerson and Vice Chair Dara Lindenbaum met a leadership team from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and its Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights to discuss the 2022 U.S. midterm elections and campaign finance issues.

On October 13, Chairman Dickerson met with a civil society delegation from Nigeria to discuss U.S. campaign finance laws and FEC operations.

On October 13, Commissioner Ellen L. Weintraub spoke via videoconference to an administrative law class at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law about campaign finance law and her work on the Commission.

On October 14, Commissioner Weintraub met with the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of Nigeria and a delegation to discuss campaign finance law and FEC operations.

Regulations and agency procedures

REG 2013-01 (Technological Modernization) The Commission made public four comments in response to its Request for Additional Comment.

Public Disclosure

On October 5, the Office of the Inspector General released its Review of Commission Directive 06, Handling of Internally Generated Matters.

Upcoming Commission meetings

October 18, 2022: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

October 20, 2022: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

November 15, 2022: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

November 17, 2022: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

Upcoming educational programs

October 19, 2022: The Commission will host an FECConnect OnTopic session on Last Minute Disclosures.

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

Upcoming reporting due dates

October 15: October Quarterly Reports are due. For more information, see the 2022 Quarterly Reporting schedule. The Commission’s Reports Analysis Division and Electronic Filing Office will be available until 8 p.m. Eastern on Friday, October 14 for filers needing assistance.

October 20: October Monthly Reports are due. For more information, see the 2022 Monthly Reporting schedule.

October 27: 12-Day Pre-General Reports are due. For more information, see the 2022 Pre- and Post-General Reporting schedule. The Commission’s Reports Analysis Division and Electronic Filing Office will be available until 8 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, October 27 for filers needing assistance.

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.