Week of September 16 - September 20, 2013
Weekly Digest Week of September 16 - 20
COMMISSION MEETINGS AND HEARINGS
No Commission open meetings or executive sessions were scheduled this week.
ADVISORY OPINIONS
Requests Received
AOR 2013-16 (PoliticalRefund.org). On September 20, the Commission made public Advisory Opinion Request 2013-16. PoliticalRefund.org asks whether it may use data obtained from reports filed with the Commission to contact contributors to federal candidates to inform them of their right to seek refunds of their contributions, and to facilitate such requests. The requestor also asks whether it may collect and display on its website the aggregate number of people requesting refunds from specific campaign committees, and whether it may accept banner advertising on its website and sponsorship of its contacts with contributors. The Commission must issue a response no later than 60 days after receipt of the complete request, that is, by November 19, 2013.
Statements Issued
AO 2013-04 (Democratic Governors Association and Jobs & Opportunity). On September 20,Vice Chairman Donald F. McGahn issued a Statement.
ENFORCEMENT
The Commission made public six Statements of Reasons. For more information, see the case documents in the Enforcement Query System.
MUR 5878 – Arizona Democratic Party - North Carolina Account; Arizona State Democratic Central Executive Committee and Rick McGuire in his former official capacity as treasurer; Pederson 2006 and Jeff Marella, in his official capacity as treasurer; and James "Jim" E. Pederson. On September 19, Vice Chairman Donald F. McGahn and Commissioners Caroline C. Hunter and Matthew S. Petersen issued a Statement of Reasons.
MUR 6346 – Cornerstone Action; Friends of Kelly Ayotte and Theodore V. Koch, in his official capacity as treasurer. On September 19, Vice Chairman Donald F. McGahn and Commissioners Caroline C. Hunter and Matthew S. Petersen issued a Statement of Reasons.
MUR 6462 – Donald J. Trump; Michael Cohen; Stewart Rahr; The Trump Organization, LLC; Should Trump Run Committee, Inc. f/k/a ShouldTrumpRun.com. On September 20, Vice Chairman Donald F. McGahn and Commissioner Caroline C. Hunter issued a Statement of Reasons.
MUR 6543 – Unknown Respondents. On September 20, Vice Chairman Donald F. McGahn issued a Statement of Reasons.
MUR 6627 – Mike Moon for Congress and Craig Comstock, in his official capacity as treasurer; C. Michael Moon; Journal Broadcast Group; Common Sense Exchange d/b/a Rally for Common Sense; Matthew Canovi; Canovi & Associates, LLC; Jonica Hope; Bob Estep; and Eric Wilber. On September 16, Vice Chairman Donald F. McGahn issued a Statement of Reasons.
MUR 6672 – Bilirakis for Congress and John Koulianos, in his official capacity as treasurer; and Representative Gus Bilirakis. On September 20, Vice Chairman Donald F. McGahn and Commissioner Caroline C. Hunter issued a Statement of Reasons.
ADMINISTRATIVE FINES
The Commission made public two campaign finance enforcement matters that were resolved through its Administrative Fines (AF) program, as follows. For more information, see the case documents in the Enforcement Query System.
AF 2637 – Doheny for Congress and Jeffrey Kirkby, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $20,110.
AF 2684 – Plumbers and Pipefitters Local Union #25 Federal Political Action Committee Fund and W. Thomas McCune, Jr., in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $145.
ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION
The Commission made public two campaign finance enforcement matters that were resolved through its Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) program, as follows. For more information, see the case documents in the Enforcement Query System.
ADR 639 – Robert Waechter. The respondent agreed to pay a civil penalty of $5,000.
ADR 645 – AMERIPAC: The Fund for a Greater America and Amy L. Pritchard, in her official capacity as treasurer. The respondent agreed to develop and certify implementation of compliance measures.
LITIGATION
Garcia for Congress, et al. v. FEC (Case 3:13-cv-02401-K). On September 18, the Commission filed its Answer to Plaintiffs'''' Original Complaint in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division. On September 19, the Commission filed its Motion for Summary Judgment and Memorandum of Law in Support of Its Motion for Summary Judgment.
La Botz v. FEC (Case 1:13-cv-00997-RC). On September 13, the Commission filed a Motion to Dismiss in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
OUTREACH
On September 18, Chair Ellen L. Weintraub discussed the role of the Commission and recent developments in campaign finance law with a group of students from American University.
PRESS RELEASES
McGahn Departs Federal Election Commission (issued September 17)
UPCOMING COMMISSION MEETINGS
September 24: The Commission is scheduled to hold an executive session.
CAMPAIGN FINANCE REPORTS
September 20: September Monthly Reports were due. For information on monthly reporting dates, refer to the 2013 Monthly Reporting page of the Commission website.
UPCOMING EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS
September 25, Federal Election Commission, Washington, DC. “Webinar: Candidate 101: Preparing for the Next Election Cycle.” Additional information is available on the Educational Outreach page of the Commission website.
October 2, Federal Election Commission, Washington, DC. “Webinar: October Quarterly Reporting for Candidate Committees.” Additional information is available on the Educational Outreach page of the Commission website.
October 2, Federal Election Commission, Washington, DC. “Webinar: FECFile and E-Filing for Candidate Committees.” Additional information is available on the Educational Outreach page of the Commission website.
October 23-24, San Francisco, California, Regional Conference for House & Senate Campaigns, Political Party Committees and Corporate/Trade/Labor PACs. Additional information is available on the Educational Outreach page of the Commission website.
UPCOMING REPORTING DUE DATES
October 15: October Quarterly Reports are due. For information on quarterly reporting dates, refer to the 2013 Quarterly Reporting page of the Commission website.
October 20: October Monthly Reports are due. For information on monthly reporting dates, refer to the 2013 Monthly Reporting page of the Commission website.
OTHER RESOURCES
The 2013 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 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 the Record news articles published in 2013 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 now 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.
The 2012 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.
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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