Week of July 2– July 6, 2018

Commission meetings and hearings

No executive sessions or open meetings were scheduled this week.

Enforcement

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

MUR 7111

• COMPLAINANT: Keep America Great PAC
  
• RESPONDENT: Donald J. Trump; Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. and Timothy Jost, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee); The Trump Organization; and Meredith McIver
  
• SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that the Trump Organization made prohibited contributions to the Committee when employee McIver provided speechwriting services for Melania Trump’s July 2016 speech to the Republican National Convention. The complaint further alleged that the Trump Organization impermissibly facilitated contributions by using corporate letterhead and that McIver’s unreimbursed travel expenses to the Republican National Convention exceeded the allowable amount for campaign volunteers.
  
• DISPOSITION: The Commission found no reason to believe that the Trump Organization engaged in corporate facilitation of contributions because the complaint provided no facts indicating that the Trump Organization used its resources or facilities to engage in any fundraising activities. The Commission found no reason to believe that McIver or the Trump Organization made excessive or prohibited contributions to the Committee because there was no evidence to support the complaint’s allegation that McIver traveled to the Republican National Convention and the respondents denied she had traveled there. Finally, the Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the allegation that the Committee accepted corporate contributions from the Trump Organization in connection with the speechwriting services provided by McIver, because the candidate paid the Trump Organization for services with his personal funds, and the Committee reported the receipt of the services as an in-kind contribution from the candidate. The Commission noted that while the in-kind contribution was not reported until after the date on which the services were rendered, the alleged amount of the violation was de minimis and did not justify the use of further Commission resources.
  

MUR 7223

• COMPLAINANT: James V. Lacy; and FEC-Initiated
  
• RESPONDENT: Applegate for Congress and Jane Leiderman, in her official capacity as treasurer (the Committee); and Douglas L. Applegate
  
• SUBJECT: In the normal course of carrying out its supervisory responsibilities, and in response to a complaint, the Commission initiated proceedings to determine whether there was reason to believe that the Committee and Douglas Applegate knowingly misreported disbursement and cash-on-hand figures in disclosure reports filed with the Commission, which the Committee later amended to disclose approximately $373,530 in additional disbursements. Douglas Applegate was a 2016 candidate for California’s 49th Congressional District.
  
• DISPOSITION: The Commission found no reason to believe that Applegate personally violated the law by misreporting disbursements. The Commission did find reason to believe that the Committee did not adequately report $95,094.32 in disbursements on its 2016 12-Day Pre-General Election Report and $278,435.82 on its 2016 30-Day Post-General Election Report. The Commission entered into a conciliation agreement providing for the Committee to pay a civil penalty of $14,500.
  

MURs 6968, 6995, 7014, 7017, 7019, and 7090

(American Democracy Legal Fund; Heather Oaks, LLC, Marvin C. Schwartz, Right to Rise USA and Charles R. Spies in his official capacity as treasurer, TH Holdings LLC, and Unknown Respondent; and DE First Holdings,Vivek Garipalli, Coalition for Progress and Ana Rivas, in her official capacity as treasurer, Décor Services, LLC, America Leads and Timothy Koch, in his official capacity as treasurer, and Unknown Respondent). Chair Caroline C. Hunter and Commissioner Matthew S. Petersen issued a Statement of Reasons.

Litigation

• CREW, et al, v. FEC (Case No. 18-5136). On July 5, appellant American Action Network filed an Opposition to the Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and appellees CREW and Melanie Sloan filed their Opposition to Appellant American Action Network’s Motion for Summary Reversal and Vacatur.
  
• Doe, et al. v. FEC (Case No. 18-5099) On July 2, plaintiffs-appellants filed a redacted Reply Brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
  
• Libertarian National Committee v. FEC (Case No. 1:16-cv-00121) On June 29, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order, certifying three questions of law to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
  
• Lieu, et al. v. FEC (Case No. 1:16-cv-02201) On July 2, the Commission filed a Reply in support of its motion to dismiss the plaintiffs’ first amended complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
  

Upcoming Commission meetings and hearings

• July 17, 2018 The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.
  
• July 19, 2018 The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.
  

Meeting dates are subject to change. Please contact the Press Office the week of the scheduled meeting for confirmation.

Upcoming reporting due dates

• July 15: July Quarterly Reports are due. For more information on quarterly reporting dates, refer to the 2018 Quarterly Reporting page of the Commission website.
  
• July 20: July Monthly Reports are due. For more information on monthly reporting dates, refer to the 2018 Monthly Reporting page of the Commission website.
  

Upcoming Educational Outreach

Additional information is available on the Educational Outreach page of the Commission website.

Additional research materials

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 2018 edition of Title 11 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) are now 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 2017 Campaign Guide for Corporations and Labor Organizations is available. Other Campaign Guides are available, as well.

The 2018 Congressional Primary Election Dates list is available.

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 2017 edition of 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.

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 mediums has not been authorized by the FEC.