Week of July 9– July 13, 2018

Commission meetings and hearings

No executive sessions or open meetings were scheduled this week.

Audits

• Kelly for Congress. On July 12, the Commission issued the Final Audit Report of the Commission on Kelly for Congress, covering campaign finance activity between March 2, 1015, and December 31, 2016. The Commission approved one finding related to the receipt of an apparent prohibited contribution through a bank loan. The Audit Report included in the Additional Issues section a separate proposed finding concerning the receipt of an apparent prohibited contribution from a national bank.

Enforcement

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

MUR 6947

• COMPLAINANTS: American Democracy Legal Fund
  
• RESPONDENTS: Dr. Benjamin S. Carson, Sr.; Carson America, Inc. and Logan D. Delaney, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee); Doug Watts; and One Vote and Chris Marston, in his official capacity as treasurer 
  
• SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that Carson, the Committee and Watts sought to circumvent the contribution limits and prohibitions of the Federal Election Campaign Act (the Act) by soliciting or directing funds from Carson supporters to One Vote, an independent-expenditure-only committee.
  
• DISPOSITION: The Commission found no reason to believe that Carson, the Committee or Watts solicited excessive or prohibited contributions to One Vote on behalf of Carson. The Commission also found no reason to believe that One Vote violated the law with respect to the allegations in the complaint.

MUR 6969

• COMPLAINANT: American Democracy Legal Fund
  
• RESPONDENTS: MMWP12 LLC; K2M LLC; Mark Kvamme; Megan Jean Browning Kvamme; Paul Johannsen; and New Day Independent Media Committee, Inc. and Susan Jones, in her official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
  
• SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that the Committee, an independent-expenditure-only committee that supported John Kasich in the 2016 presidential campaign, received a $500,000 contribution that was attributed to MMWP12 LLC, a limited liability company whose only other member is another entity, K2M LLC. The complaint alleged that K2M and its two officers, Johannsen and Mark Kvamme, made the contribution at issue in the name of MMWP12, which knowingly facilitated the contribution in the name of another, and that the Committee knowingly accepted the contribution in the name of another. The complaint alleged further that MMWP12 failed to register with the Commission and file required disclosure reports despite meeting the standard for political committee status in the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended (the Act), and therefore violated the registration, recordkeeping, and reporting requirements of the Act.
  
• DISPOSITION: The Commission closed the file.  On July 13, Vice Chair Ellen L. Weintraub issued a Statement of Reasons.
  

MURs 7031 and 7034

• COMPLAINANTS: Campaign Legal Center; Democracy 21; Lawrence Noble; and End Citizens United
  
• RESPONDENTS: Children of Israel, LLC (Children LLC); Saul A. Fox; Benjerome Trust; Shaofen "Lisa" Gao; Pursuing America's Greatness and Bryan Jeffrey, in his official capacity as treasurer; Stand ForTruth, Inc. and D. Eric Lycan, in his official capacity as treasurer; and Unknown Respondents
  
• SUBJECT: The complaints alleged that Gao and other, unknown individuals made $550,000 in contributions in the name of Children LLC to two independent-expenditure-only political committees, Pursuing America’s Greatness and Stand ForTruth, Inc. The complaints further alleged that Children LLC knowingly facilitated these contributions in the name of another, and one of the complaints also alleged that the recipient committees knowingly accepted the contributions in the name of another.  In addition, the complaints alleged that Children LLC violated the Act for failing to register and report as a political committee despite meeting the statutory threshold for political committee status.
  
• DISPOSITION: The Commission closed the file. On July 13, Vice Chair Weintraub issued a Statement of Reasons.
  

MUR 7326

• COMPLAINANT: Van Shaver 
  
• RESPONDENTS: Burchett for Congress and Roger L. Goins, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee); Stokely Hospitality Enterprises (Stokely); Cohen Communication Group, LLC; Commercial Realty Group, LLC; JRF Properties, LLC; Squire’s Square LLC; Valliant, Harrison & Schwartz, P.A. (Valliant)
  
• SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that the Committee accepted contributions from two corporations--Stokely and Valliant—and  that the Committee failed to disclose the individuals associated with contributions received from four other business entities.
  
• DISPOSITION: The Commission found no reason to believe that Stokely or Valliant made and the Committee accepted prohibited contributions because the two businesses denied that they were incorporated entities. The Commission found no reason to believe that Cohen Communication Group, LLC, JRF Properties, LLC, and Squire’s Square LLC violated the law since there is no information to suggest that any of these entities are corporations or that any individual exceeded the per-election contribution limits that apply to partnerships. The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the allegation that the Committee and Commercial Realty Group may have failed to provide information on how to attribute Commercial Realty Group’s contribution among the partners. The Commission noted the modest amount at issue.
  

Litigation

• CREW et al. v. FEC (Case No. 18-1059) On July 6, Plaintiffs filed a Notice of Voluntary Dismissal in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
  
• CREW et al. v. FEC (Case No. 18-1060) On July 6, Plaintiffs filed a Notice of Voluntary Dismissal in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
  
• CREW, et al, v. FEC (Case No. 18-5136). On July 12, appellees CREW and Melanie Sloan filed a Reply in Support of the Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and appellant American Action Network filed a Reply in Further Support of its Motion for Summary Reversal and Vacatur.
  

Outreach

On July 11, Press Officer Judith Ingram and Public Affairs Specialist Myles Martin discussed campaign finance disclosure rules and the role of the Commission with a group of journalists from Thailand, who were visiting the United States to study “Integrity in Journalism” under the aegis of the State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program.

Upcoming Commission meetings and hearings

• July 17, 2018 The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.
  
• The open meeting previously scheduled for July 19 has been canceled.
  

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. Staff in the Reports Analysis Division and Electronic Filing Office will be available until 8:00 p.m. (EDT) on Friday, July 13 to answer questions regarding the content and filing of reports. 
  
• 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.

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