Week of August 7 – 11, 2023

Commission meetings and hearings

On August 8 and 10, the Commission met in executive session.

On August 10, the Commission held an open meeting.

Advisory Opinions

Opinion Considered

Advisory Opinion Request 2023-05 (Alamo PAC) On August 10, the Commission discussed an advisory opinion request from Alamo PAC, the leadership PAC of U.S. Senator John Cornyn. Alamo PAC asked whether it may establish a separate account with its own contribution limit for the sole purpose of making independent expenditures. The Commission considered and voted on three draft advisory opinions, but none received the required four affirmative votes. During the discussion, the Commission heard from Counsel for the Requestor.

Enforcement

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

MUR 7984

COMPLAINANT: Susan E. McKenney
RESPONDENTS: Rhonda Gore; and Rhonda Gore for District 4 (the Committee)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that the Committee failed to (1) file disclosure reports, (2) timely designate a new treasurer and update its official address with the Commission after its prior treasurer resigned, and (3) include disclaimers on unspecified campaign materials. The complaint further alleged that Gore failed to file a Statement of Candidacy after she exceeded the $5,000 threshold for contributions received and/or expenditures made, and that Gore received contributions into her personal accounts via several payment platforms, and therefore commingled campaign and personal funds. Gore ran for office in Alabama’s 4th Congressional District.
DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the matter.

MUR 8021

COMPLAINANT: Campaign Legal Center
RESPONDENT: Ohio Ordnance Works, Inc.
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that Ohio Ordnance Works, Inc. violated the federal contractor prohibition of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended (the Act), and Commission regulations when it made a contribution of $100,000 to Club for Growth Action, an independent expenditure-only political committee.
DISPOSITION: The Commission entered into a conciliation agreement providing for Ohio Ordnance Works, Inc. to pay a civil penalty of $19,000.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

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

ADR 1099

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: FF PAC and Chauncey McLean, in official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
SUBJECT: In the normal course of carrying out its supervisory responsibilities, the Commission initiated proceedings to determine whether there was reason to believe that the Committee failed to disclose $193,782.79 in additional in-kind contributions on its original 2022 July Monthly Report, and failed to disclose $106,458.02 in additional in-kind contributions on its original 2022 September Monthly Report.
DISPOSITION: The Committee agreed to 1) develop and certify the implementation and distribution of a policy document to be provided to all Committee personnel detailing reporting procedures to ensure timely and accurate in-kind contribution reporting, and 2) pay a civil penalty of $10,300.

Administrative Fines

The Commission made public 29 closed cases, as follows. For more information, see the case documents in the Administrative Fine Search System.

AF 4420 Harbin for Georgia, Inc and Blake Harbin, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $448.

AF 4432 Neil Walia for Congress and Naveen Shahi, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $373.

AF 4433 Nykea for Congress and Sherifat Coppage, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $748.

AF 4434 Pacheco for Congress and Kathan Mospaw-Lambert, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $9.

AF 4435 Palmer for Illinois and Nathan Dary, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed no civil penalty.

AF 4436 Pat Dowell for Congress and Mattie Lacy, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $7,154.

AF 4437 Peter K for Congress and George Limperis, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $748.

AF 4438 Reba for Congress and Bryon Fredrick McComb, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $42,928.

AF 4439 Reed for Missouri and Christina Lynch, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $7,154.

AF 4440 Rene Lopez for Congress and Rene Lopez, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $1,346.

AF 4441 Ruth Luevanos for Congress and Dulcemonica Delgadillo, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $134.

AF 4442 Sergio Alcubilla for Congress and Sergio Alcubilla, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $4,292.

AF 4443 Sherry Gay-Dagnogo and Marsha Bruhn, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $3,805.

AF 4444 Shervin Aazami and Shervin Aazami, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed no civil penalty.

AF 4446 Vanessa for New York and Janneke House, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $3,035.

AF 4447 Vimal Patel for Congress Inc and Vimal Patel, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $149.

AF 4448 Wes Nofire for Congress and Michael Stopp, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed no civil penalty.

AF 4449 William Sanchez for US Senate and Marcia Rodriguez, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $3,297.

AF 4470 District Council 37 AFSCME Public Employees Organized for Pol & Leg Equality (DC37PEOPLE) and Maf Uddin, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $2,590.

AF 4471 The Desert Caucus and Steve Seltzer, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $350.

AF 4472 Votesane PAC and James Williams, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $19,075.

AF 4473 Charles Graham for Congress and Ian W. McDermott, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $1,682.

AF 4474 Committee to Elect Kyle Sinclair for Congressional District 20 and Thomas Datwyler, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $3,139.

AF 4475 Henry Martin for Congress and Ambrosia Ferree, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $2,093.

AF 4476 Iroghama Omere for TX and Iroghama C. Omere, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $7,948.

AF 4477 JHT for Congress and Sache Primeaux Shaw, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $744.

AF 4478 Kumar for Congress and Gary Tasser, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $3,336.

AF 4479 Tamie Wilson for US and Cynthia Brown, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $706.

AF 4480 Texans for Mikal Williams and Mimi Montgomery, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $897.

Regulations and agency procedures

REG 2023-02 (Artificial Intelligence in Campaign Ads) – Draft Notification of Availability. On August 10, the Commission approved a Draft Notification of Availability in response to a Petition for Rulemaking filed by Public Citizen. The Petition asks the Commission to amend its regulation on the fraudulent misrepresentation of campaign authority to make it clear that the related statutory prohibition applies to deliberately deceptive Artificial Intelligence (AI) campaign advertisements. The Commission seeks written comment on the Petition. Commenters may submit comments electronically via the Commission’s website, reference REG 2023-02. The Notification will be published in the Federal Register at a future date along with the deadline for comments.

The redacted Reports Analysis Division Review and Referral Procedures for the 2023-2024 Election Cycle have been posted to the Commission’s website on the page for Documents on Enforcement and Compliance Practices.

Public Disclosure

On August 7, the Office of the Inspector General released an Investigative Summary on Allegations of Ethics Violations by an FEC Commissioner.

Litigation

National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund, et al. v. FEC (Case No. 22-1017) On August 8, the Commission filed a Stipulation of Settlement and Dismissal in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Press releases

FEC approves rulemaking petition, discusses advisory opinion (issued August 11)

Upcoming Commission meetings and hearings

August 29, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

August 30, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

September 12, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

September 14, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

Upcoming educational programs

August 30, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to host a Candidate 101 webinar.

September 27, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to host a full-day Seminar for Separate Segregated Funds at its headquarters in Washington, D.C. In-person attendance is limited, but virtual attendance is also available.

October 25, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to host a full-day Seminar for Candidate and Political Party Committees at its headquarters in Washington, D.C. In-person attendance is limited, but virtual attendance is also available.

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

Upcoming reporting due dates

August 20: August Monthly Reports are due. For more information, see the 2023 Monthly Reporting schedule.

Employment opportunities

The Commission is accepting applications for the position of Financial Management Analyst in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer through August 18, 2023.

On September 6, the Commission will host a virtual job fair. Attendees will hear from department heads, hiring managers, and HR professionals about career opportunities at the FEC.

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.

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.