Week of April 8 - 12, 2024

Commission meetings and hearings

No open meetings or executive sessions were scheduled this week.

Advisory Opinions

Draft Advisory Opinions

Advisory Opinion Request 2024-03 (Politicalmeetings.com, LLC) On April 11, the Commission made public two draft advisory opinions (Revised Draft A and Draft B) .

Enforcement

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

MUR 8082

COMPLAINANT: Noah Bookbinder, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington
RESPONDENTS: Unknown Respondents; Florida Power & Light Company; SUN Marketing & Advertising LLC; Let’s Preserve the American Dream, Inc.; Florida Promise, Inc.; Center for Advancement of Integrity and Justice, Inc.; Grow United, Inc.; Broken Promises; Stand Up for Justice; Richard Alexander; Sean J. Anderson; Senate Leadership Fund and Caleb Crosby in his official capacity as treasurer and in his personal capacity; American Valor PAC and Lisa Lisker in her official capacity as treasurer and in her personal capacity; Conservative Action Fund (f/k/a Wingman PAC) and Charles Gantt in his official capacity as treasurer; Abby Dupree in her personal capacity as the former treasurer of Wingman PAC; Concerned Conservatives, Inc., and Nancy H. Watkins in her official capacity as treasurer and in her personal capacity; South Florida Residents First and Paul Kilgore in his official capacity as treasurer and in his personal capacity
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that Unknown Respondents made contributions in the name of another, totaling $1.27 million, through a network of conduits associated with a political consulting firm called Matrix LLC, to five federal independent expenditure-only political committees (IEOPCs), and that five conduit corporations permitted their names to be used to effect contributions in the name of another.
DISPOSITION: The Commission closed the file. Chairman Sean J. Cooksey and Commissioners Allen Dickerson and James E. “Trey” Trainor, III and Vice Chair Ellen L. Weintraub and Commissioner Shana M. Broussard issued Statements of Reasons.

MUR 8088

COMPLAINANT: Montana Republican State Central Committee
RESPONDENT: Montanans Against Corruption in Congress and Timothy Bechtold, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that the Committee, an independent expenditure-only political committee, (1) failed to file a required 24-Hour Report to disclose independent expenditures aggregating $1,000 or more in the form of printed cards opposing Ryan Zinke and supporting John Lamb, both of whom were 2022 candidates for Montana’s 1st Congressional District, (2) misappropriated the Montana Republican Party’s name and logo in its cards, and (3) failed to have reported any receipts or disbursements as of the date the complaint was filed.
DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the matter.

MUR 8091

COMPLAINANT: Campaign Legal Center
RESPONDENTS: Beth Harwell; Beth Harwell (House 18) (State Committee); Tennesseans for Good State Government (State PAC); and Government of the People and Debra Y. Maggart, in her official capacity as treasurer (GOTP)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that Harwell, the State Committee and the State PAC transferred and GOTP, an independent-expenditure committee, received funds that were not subject to the limitations, prohibitions, and reporting requirements of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended (the Act) in connection with an election to federal office. Harwell was a 2022 candidate for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District.
DISPOSITION: The Commission entered into a conciliation agreement providing for Harwell, the State Committee, and the State PAC to pay a civil penalty of $16,000. The Commission closed the file in connection with the allegations against GOTP. Chairman Cooksey issued a Statement of Reasons.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

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

ADR 1148

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: Michigan Liberation Action Fund and RaiAda LaNier, in official capacity as treasurer
SUBJECT: In the normal course of carrying out its supervisory responsibilities, the Commission initiated proceedings to determine whether there was reason to believe Respondent failed to timely file 14 24-Hour Reports to support 42 independent expenditures disseminated between July 18, 2022, and July 31, 2022, totaling $37,537.12, one 24-Hour Report to support four independent expenditures disseminated on October 23, 2022, totaling $2,882.09, and 17 24-Hour Reports to support 80 independent expenditures disseminated between October 20, 2022, and November 6, 2022, totaling $64,260.02.
DISPOSITION: Respondent agreed to (1) develop and certify implementation of a compliance operations manual, (2) certify that a representative of the Committee participated in an FEC training program, and (3) pay a civil penalty of $7,775.

ADR 1149

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: Brighter Future PAC and Shayne Thoman, in official capacity as treasurer
SUBJECT: In the normal course of carrying out its supervisory responsibilities, the Commission initiated proceedings to determine whether there was reason to believe Respondent failed to disclose all financial activity on its 2022 July Quarterly Report.
DISPOSITION: Respondent agreed to certify that a representative of the Committee participated in an FEC training program and pay a civil penalty of $12,725.

Audits

1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East Federal Political Action Fund (2020) On April 8, the Commission issued the Final Audit Report of the Commission on 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East Federal Political Action Fund, covering campaign finance activity from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2020. The Commission approved findings related to Misstatement of Financial Activity, Reporting of Apparent Independent Expenditures, and Recordkeeping for Communications.

Litigation

National Republican Senatorial Committee, et al. v. FEC, et al. (Case No. 24-3051) On April 11, the Unopposed Motion of CLC and CREW for Leave to File Brief Amici Curiae Supporting FEC and Brief of Amici Curiae CLC and CREW in Support of FEC were filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

Regulations and agency procedures

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Use of Campaign Funds for Candidate and Officeholder Security On April 9, the Commission published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the Federal Register on candidate security, which would codify several Commission advisory opinions that authorized the use of campaign funds to pay for certain security measures and address additional issues raised in those advisory opinions. The Commission seeks comment on the proposed rule and has made no final decision on the issues presented in this rulemaking. Commenters are encouraged to submit comments electronically via the Commission’s website by referencing REG 2024-01. The deadline for comments is June 10, 2024.

Upcoming Commission meetings and hearings

April 16, 2024: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

April 18, 2024: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

April 30, 2024: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

May 1, 2024: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

Upcoming educational opportunities

April 16-17, 2024: The Commission will host a webinar for corporations and their PACs.

May 7-8, 2024: The Commission will host a webinar for membership and labor organizations and their PACs.

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

Upcoming reporting due dates

April 15: April Quarterly Reports are due. For more information, see the 2024 Quarterly Reporting schedule. The Reports Analysis Division and Electronic Filing Office will be available until 8 p.m. EDT on Monday, April 15, for assistance in filing reports.

April 20: April Monthly Reports are due. For more information, see the 2024 Monthly Reporting schedule.

Additional research materials

Election Dates. The Commission has posted Preliminary 2024 Presidential and Congressional Primary Dates, which are subject to change.

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.

Federal Elections 2020: Election Results for the U.S. President, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives is now 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.

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.