Week of August 27 – August 31, 2018

Commission meetings and hearings

On August 28, the Commission met in executive session.

Enforcement

The Commission made public six closed cases and published documents associated with a previously closed matter, as follows. For more information, see the case documents in the Enforcement Query System.

MUR 6696R

• COMPLAINANTS: Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW); Melanie Sloan; Nicholas Mezlak
• RESPONDENT: Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies (Crossroads GPS)
• SUBJECT: This matter came before the Commission on remand from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia following its decision in CREW v. FEC (Case No. 16-259) on August 3, 2018. At issue in the case was the Commission’s dismissal of CREW’s administrative complaint alleging that Crossroads GPS failed to disclose contributors in independent expenditure reports that it filed in connection with elections in 2012. The court concluded that the Commission’s dismissal was “contrary to law,” and remanded the case to the Commission to conform with the court’s ruling within 30 days.
• DISPOSITION: The Commission closed the file.

MUR 6893

• COMPLAINANT: Rand Paul for U.S. Senate 2016
• RESPONDENT: Winning the Senate PAC and Jason F. Emert, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
• SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that the Committee, an independent expenditure-only political committee, solicited funds in an e-mail that falsely indicated that Senator Rand Paul and three other U.S. Senators had sent it, when Senator Paul maintained that he did not authorize the use of his name for the solicitation and that he was not affiliated with the Committee. Senator Paul was a 2016 candidate for Kentucky’s United States Senate seat.
• DISPOSITION: The Commission found reason to believe the Committee violated the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended (the Act), by fraudulently misrepresenting that it was writing or otherwise acting on behalf of the Paul campaign in connection with the solicitation and entered into a conciliation agreement providing for the Committee to pay a civil penalty of $15,000.

MUR 7288

• COMPLAINANT: Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust
• RESPONDENTS: DNC Services Corporation/Democratic National Committee and William Derrough, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee); Team Tom; and Tom Perez
• SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that Perez, Chair of the Committee, violated the soft money prohibitions of the Act by using Team Tom to donate impermissible funds to pay the campaign debts of several of his opponents in the election for Committee Chair. Team Tom was a 527 organization formed to support Perez’s candidacy.
• DISPOSITION: The Commission found no reason to believe Perez, Team Tom or the Committee violated the Act or Commission regulations because available information did not indicate that Perez was acting as an agent of the Committee when Team Tom donated funds to his opponents, nor was there evidence that the Committee established, financed, maintained, or controlled Team Tom.

MUR 7301

• COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
• RESPONDENT: Reform America Fund and Lorri Pickens, in her official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
• SUBJECT: In the normal course of carrying out its supervisory responsibilities, the Commission initiated proceedings and found reason to believe the Committee failed to file two 24-Hour reports totaling $1,044,256.46 to support two independent expenditures disclosed on its 2016 30-Day Post-General Report.
• DISPOSITION: The Commission entered into a conciliation agreement providing for the Committee to pay a civil penalty of $20,000.

MUR 7305

• COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
• RESPONDENT: Colorado Republican Committee and Marty Neilson in her official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
• SUBJECT: In the normal course of carrying out its supervisory responsibilities, the Commission initiated proceedings and found reason to believe the Committee failed to disclose $132,560 in receipts on its 2016 12-Day Pre-General election report.
• DISPOSITION: The Commission entered into a conciliation agreement providing for the Committee to pay a civil penalty of $15,000.

MUR 7333

• COMPLAINANT: People’s Project, LLC
• RESPONDENT: Amy for the People and Josiah McKinney, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
• SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that the Committee failed to disclose two payments and one debt to People’s Project, LLC on its 2017 Year-End Report.
• DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the matter in furtherance of Commission priorities, but cautioned the Committee that it is required to itemize expenditures in excess of $200 and to disclose all debts owed on its disclosure reports.

MUR 7394

• COMPLAINANT: Margaret Yonco-Haines
• RESPONDENTS: O’Donnell for Congress and Thomas Weddell in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee); Mediacom Communications Corporation; Dana Distributors, Inc.; Dutchess Manor, Inc.; Maxwell Security Group, LLC; and Cameo Hills Ltd.
• SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that the Committee accepted and failed to report prohibited corporate in-kind contributions in the form of free event space from three corporations and that it accepted prohibited monetary contributions from Maxwell Security and Cameo Hills. James O’Donnell is a 2018 candidate for New York’s 18th Congressional District.
• DISPOSITION: The Commission found no reason to believe Mediacom Communications, Dana Distributors, or Dutchess Manor made prohibited corporate in-kind contributions because the available information indicated that either the Committee or candidate O’Donnell paid the corporations for the use of their spaces. The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the remaining allegations against the Committee, Maxwell Security, and Cameo Hills in furtherance of Commission priorities. While Maxwell Security and Cameo Hills admitted to making corporate contributions, the Commission noted the relatively modest amounts and that the Committee had refunded the corporate contributions at issue.

Administrative Fines

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

AF 3347

Jill Stein for President and Steven Welzer in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $10,941.

AF 3348

Jill Stein for President and Steven Welzer in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $6,564.

AF 3349

National Peanut Buying Points Association Peanut Buying Point PAC and J. Tyron Spearman in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $156.

AF 3352

Taylor Griffin for Congress and Taylor Griffin in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed no civil penalty.

Litigation

• CREW et al. v. FEC (Case No. 16-0259) On August 24, Intervenor-Defendant Crossroads GPS filed a Notice of Appeal and a Motion for Stay Pending Appeal and a Supporting Memorandum of Law in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The appeal has been assigned case number 18-5261 in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
• CREW et al. v. FEC (Case No. 18-0076) On August 24, the Commission filed a Motion for Summary Judgment and a Memorandum in Support of Its Motion for Summary Judgment and in Opposition to Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Public Disclosure

• On August 31, the Commission issued the Statistical Summary of 18-Month Campaign Activity of the 2017-2018 Election Cycle.

Rulemakings and Agency Procedures

• On August 24, Chair Caroline C. Hunter, Vice Chair Weintraub and Commissioner Steven T. Walther attended an information session at the Commission with the Campaign Legal Center on internet communications disclaimers.

Upcoming Commission meetings and hearings

• September 6, 2018: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.
• September 6, 2018: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.
• September 25, 2018: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.
• September 27, 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

• September 20: September 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

• On September 5, the Commission is scheduled to host a Pre-Election Communications webinar.

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.