Week of September 19-23, 2022

Commission meetings and hearings

No open meetings or executive sessions were scheduled this week.

Advisory Opinions

Request Received

Advisory Opinion Request 2022-20 (Maggie for NH) On September 20, the Commission made public an advisory opinion request from Maggie for NH, the authorized campaign committee of Senator Maggie Hassan. The committee asks whether proposed text messages containing links to “split-it” fundraising pages will constitute in-kind contributions to the other political committees listed on the pages. The Commission will accept written comments on the request during the 10-day period following publication of the request (no later than September 30) and must issue a response no later than 20 days after the receipt of the complete request, that is, by October 11, 2022.

Draft Advisory Opinion and Extension of Time

Advisory Opinion Request 2022-12 (Ready for Ron) On September 21, the Commission received an extension of time from the requestor and on September 23, the Commission made public a draft advisory opinion.

Enforcement

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

MUR 7774

COMPLAINANT: Campaign Legal Center
RESPONDENTS: Antone for Congress and Dennis Melton, in his official capacity as Treasurer (the Committee); Antone Melton-Meaux; West Coast Public Affairs (West Coast); Lake Point Consulting LLC (Lake Point); North Superior Consulting LLC (North Superior); and Canal Partners Media, LLC (Canal Partners)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that the Committee failed to itemize disbursements totaling $3,470,618 for campaign services to Lake Point, North Superior, and West Coast, three business entities that were formed allegedly to obscure the ultimate payees, which included the subvendor Canal Point, as well as the purposes of the disbursements. The complaint alleged that these businesses were formed for the sole purpose of acting as conduits to disguise payments to vendors worried that they would be blacklisted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee if they provided services to the primary election opponent of Melton-Meaux, a 2020 candidate for Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District.
DISPOSITION: On July 12, 2022, the Commission found reason to believe the Committee misreported the payee of funds to West Coast and dismissed allegations that the Committee misreported the purpose of the funds paid. The Commission found no reason to believe Melton-Meaux, West Coast, Lake Point, or North Superior failed to accurately report disbursement information. On August 11, 2022, upon further review, the Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the allegation that the Committee misreported the payee of funds to West Coast and closed the file. Chairman Allen Dickerson and Vice Chair Dara Lindenbaum and Commissioners Shana M. Broussard and Ellen L. Weintraub issued Statements of Reasons.

MUR 7918

COMPLAINANT: Sarah Jane Garraty
RESPONDENT: WinRed
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that WinRed, an online fundraising platform, charged two unauthorized transactions totaling $140 using the complainant’s credit card.
DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the matter. The Commission observed that the dollar amount at issue was low.

MUR 7759 (William Figlesthaler for Congress, et al.) On September 16, Chairman Dickerson and Commissioners Sean J. Cooksey and James E. “Trey” Trainor, III issued a Statement of Reasons.

MUR 7867 (Our American Century PAC) On September 16, Commissioners. Broussard and Weintraub issued a Statement of Reasons.

Litigation

End Citizens United PAC v. FEC (Case No. 21-2128) On September 16, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order granting Defendant-Intervenor New Republican PAC’s Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment and denying Plaintiff’s Motion for Default Judgment or Summary Judgment.

Free Speech for People, et al. v. FEC (Case No. 22-666) On September 22, the Commission filed a Reply Memorandum in Support of its Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Upcoming Commission meetings

September 28, 2022: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

September 29, 2022: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting and meet in executive session.

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

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

Upcoming educational programs

September 28, 2022: The Commission will host reporting and FECFile webinars for PACs and party committees.

October 6, 2022: The Commission will host reporting and FECFile webinars for candidate committees.

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.

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.

Employment opportunities

The FEC is accepting applications for the position of Public Affairs Specialist. For more information, see https://www.usajobs.gov/job/677972900.

The FEC is accepting applications for the position of Contract Specialist. For more information, see https://www.usajobs.gov/job/678373100.

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.