Week of October 7 – 11, 2019

Commission meetings and hearings

No open meetings or executive sessions were scheduled this week.

Enforcement

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

MUR 6538R

COMPLAINANT: Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington
RESPONDENT: Americans for Job Security (AJS)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that AJS failed to organize, register, and report as a political committee as required by the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended (the Act), when it engaged in election-related activity, including by making independent expenditures and electioneering communications.
DISPOSITION: Upon remand from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, the Commission found reason to believe AJS failed to organize, register and report as a political committee. The Commission entered into a conciliation agreement providing for AJS to register as a political committee and to file a report outlining its receipts—including the identity of any person or organization that gave money to AJS, and disbursements for 2010 through 2012—reflecting the best efforts of AJS President Stephen DeMaura to obtain information about expenditures and disbursements for that period. On October 11, Chair Ellen L. Weintraub issued a Statement of Reasons.

MUR 6824 and ADR 701

COMPLAINANT: John E. Stone (MUR 6824); and Self-Initiated (ADR 701)
RESPONDENTS: Eugene Yu for Congress, Inc. and Donnie Miller, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee); Eugene Chin Yu; Jonie H. Yu; Wayne B. Brown; and WayneWorks, LLC
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that Yu, who dropped out of his race as a 2014 primary candidate for Georgia’s United States Senate seat to run as a 2014 candidate for Georgia’s 12th Congressional District, lacked sufficient financial assets to make more than $730,000 in personal loans to his committees, based on information contained in his Senate and House personal financial disclosure forms. According to a sua sponte submission from the Committee, Yu, Brown and his company, Wayneworks, LLC, which was filed before the complaint, Brown and his company made four payments totaling $50,000 pursuant to a real estate transaction with Yu and paid directly to Yu’s Senate Committee account or to Yu personally and deposited into the Senate Committee’s account.
DISPOSITION: The Commission found reason to believe that Brown made and the Committee and Yu accepted excessive contributions arising from 15 payments made pursuant to the real estate transaction with Yu and his spouse Jonie H. Yu that were used to finance Yu’s campaign. The Commission also found reason to believe that Jonie Yu made and the Committee accepted excessive contributions in the form of a home equity line of credit draw and advances on a credit card owned by Jonie Yu. The Commission entered into a conciliation agreement providing for the Yus and the Committee to pay a civil penalty of $18,000. The Commission entered into a separate conciliation agreement providing for Brown to pay a civil penalty of $12,500. The conciliation agreements encompassed the matters arising from the sua sponte submission.

MURs 7409 & 7620

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated (MUR 7409); and Self-Initiated (MUR 7620)
RESPONDENTS: Mason Tenders District Council of Greater New York & LI PAC and Mike Prohaska, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
SUBJECT: In the normal course of carrying out its supervisory responsibilities in MUR 7409, the Commission initiated proceedings to determine whether there was reason to believe that the Committee failed to disclose receipts totaling $378,712.72 on its 2016 12-Day Pre-General and 2017 February Monthly Reports . After receiving a sua sponte submission from the Committee, the Commission initiated proceedings in MUR 7620 to determine whether the Committee failed to disclose $170,773.73 in receipts on its 2018 12-Day Pre-General Report.
DISPOSITION: The Commission entered into a conciliation agreement covering both matters and providing for the Committee to pay a civil penalty of $15,000.

Upcoming reporting due dates

October 15: October Quarterly reports are due. For more information on quarterly reporting dates, refer to the 2019 Quarterly Reporting page of the Commission website.

October 20: October Monthly reports are due. For more information on monthly reporting dates, refer to the 2019 Monthly Reporting page of the Commission website.

Upcoming educational programs

On October 29-30, the Commission will host a Regional Conference in San Diego, CA for candidates, political parties, and political action committees.

Additional research materials

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.

Printed copies of the 2019 edition of Title 11 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) are available. Contact the Commission's Information Division at (202) 694-1100 or (800) 424-9530 (press 6, when prompted) to order printed copies of the CFR at no charge. You may also email the Information Division to place an order at info@fec.gov.

The 2019 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. To order a printed copy, please contact the FEC’s Public Records Office at 800/424-9530 (option 2) or 202/694-1120, or send an email to pubrec@fec.gov.

Federal Elections 2016: Election Results for the U.S. President, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives is available. The data was compiled from the official vote totals published by state election offices. To order a printed copy, please contact the FEC’s Public Records Office at 800/424-9530 (option 2) or 202/694-1120, or send an email to pubrec@fec.gov.

The FEC Record is available as a continuously updated online news source.

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 at this time. The use of the agency’s logo, name, and likeness on other media has not been authorized by the FEC.