Week of September 7-10, 2021

Commission meetings and hearings

No open meetings or executive sessions were scheduled this week.

Enforcement

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

MUR 6992 Donald J. Trump; Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. and Bradley T. Crate, in his official capacity as treasurer; and The Trump Organization LLC. On August 31, Vice Chair Allen Dickerson and Commissioner James E. “Trey” Trainor, III issued a Statement of Reasons.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

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

ADR 982

COMPLAINANT: Self-Reported
RESPONDENT: Wayne County Democratic Party (WCDP)
SUBJECT: WCDP, a local political party organization in Ohio that is not registered with the Commission, filed a sua sponte submission stating that it made expenditures for exempt party activity totaling $15,356.56 in connection with a federal election in 2020. The expenditures exceeded $5,000 during a calendar year, and therefore triggered political committee status on the part of the WCDP. The expenditures also exceeded the $5,000 per election contribution limit for political party committees making contributions to an authorized political committee of a federal candidate.
DISPOSITION: WCDP agreed to 1) complete an FEC training program, and 2) send the recipient committee of the excessive contribution a second request if a refund has not been issued by that committee.

ADR 1012

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: Independent Alaska and Susanna Orr, in her 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 disclose $70,900 in debts on its original 2020 12-Day Pre-General Report.
DISPOSITION: The Committee agreed to 1) develop and certify implementation of a policy document to be provided to external vendors detailing communication procedures to ensure timely and accurate reporting of independent expenditures, and 2) pay a civil penalty of $2,800.

ADR 1013

COMPLAINANT: Jon Neiderbach
RESPONDENT: Iowans for a Progressive Tomorrow (IPT)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that IPT, a nonprofit corporation, made an independent expenditure in support of Eddie Mauro, a 2018 candidate from Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District, but failed to file a 24-Hour Report with the Commission and also failed to register and report as a political committee.
DISPOSITION: IPT agreed to pay a civil penalty of $3,700.

ADR 1022

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: Club for Growth Action and Adam Rozansky, 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 a 48-Hour Report totaling $289,920.23 to support three independent expenditures disclosed on its 2020 12-Day Pre-General Report.
DISPOSITION: The Committee agreed to 1) develop and certify implementation and distribution of a policy document to be provided to compliance staff detailing independent expenditure reporting procedures to ensure timely and accurate reporting, 2) certify that a representative of the Committee participated in an FEC training program, and 3) pay a civil penalty of $14,500.

Administrative Fines

The Commission made public six closed cases, as follows. For more information, see the case documents in the Administrative Fine search system.

AF 3808 Committee for Good Government International Union UAW and Frank Stuglin, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $5,663.

AF 3830 UAW - V - CAP (UAW Voluntary Community Action Program) and Frank Stuglin, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $11,907.

AF 3832 Urban Victory Fund (UVF) and Drue Kinchen, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $1,230.

AF 3962 Carmelita for Congress and Val Tillstrom, in her official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $13,311.

AF 3971 Friends of Bob Olsen 4 Congress and Linda Olsen, in her official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $347.

AF 4181 S.C. Bankers Political Action Committee and Fred L. Green III, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $351.

Litigation

Campaign Legal Center v. FEC (Case No. 21-1376) On September 8, Plaintiffs filed a Stipulation of Dismissal in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The Court issued a minute order that the case be dismissed without prejudice.

Campaign Legal Center, et al. v. FEC (Case No. 21-5081) On September 8, Appellants filed a Reply Brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Upcoming educational programs

September 15, 2021: The Commission will host a FECConnect On Topic session on Testing the Waters.

September 22, 2021: The Commission will host a FECConnect On Topic session on Candidate Registration.

September 29, 2021: The Commission will host reporting and FECFile webinars to help federal candidates and their campaign committees prepare to file their October 15 Quarterly Reports.

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

Upcoming Commission meetings

September 14, 2021: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

September 28, 2021: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

September 30, 2021: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

Upcoming reporting due dates

September 20: September Monthly Reports are due. For more information, see the 2021 Monthly Reporting schedule.

Status of agency operations

See the Commission’s statement on the status of agency operations, updated on April 15, 2021. At this stage, most agency staff remain in telework status and the Commission’s office remains closed to visitors. See also the agency’s Workplace Safety Plan, dated May 6, 2021.

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