Week of October 2 – 6, 2023

Commission meetings and hearings

On October 3 and 5, the Commission met in executive session.

The Commission voted to cancel the open meeting scheduled for October 5.

Advisory Opinions

Supplemental information received

Advisory Opinion Request 2023-06 (Texas Majority PAC) On September 30, the Commission received supplemental information from the requester.

Enforcement

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

MUR 8087

COMPLAINANT: David Nierenberg
RESPONDENTS: Joe Kent for Congress and Thomas Datwyler, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee); Joseph Kent; American Enterprise Solutions; and Advanced Enterprise Solutions, LLC (AES, a.k.a. Advanced Enterprise Solutions Group, LLC)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that American Enterprise Solutions or AES made and Kent and the Committee accepted excessive and potentially prohibited corporate contributions in the form of salary payments and payments for polling. Kent was 2022 candidate for Washington’s 3rd Congressional District.
DISPOSITION: The Commission found no reason to believe that AES made or Kent or the Committee knowingly accepted excessive or prohibited contributions because there was insufficient information to support the allegations. The Commission also found no reason to believe that American Enterprise Solutions made excessive or prohibited corporate contributions to Kent or the Committee because the inclusion of that company in the complaint appears to have been based solely on confusing public statements by Kent.

MUR 8162

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENTS: Support American Leaders PAC and Matthew Tunstall, in his 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 1) received apparent excessive contributions totaling $173,240, 2) failed to file accurate reports of its cash on hand, resulting in a discrepancy of $421,579.84 between the ending cash-on-hand balance disclosed in the Committee’s 2019 October Quarterly report and that disclosed in the Committee’s subsequent, 2019 Year-End Report, and 3) failed to disclose the presidential primary state for independent expenditures totaling $372,534.67.
DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the matter, issued a letter of admonishment to the Committee, and directed the agency’s Reports Analysis Division to administratively terminate the Committee.

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 1123

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: Hung Cao for Virginia and Steve Martin, in official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
SUBJECT: In the normal course of exercising its supervisory responsibilities, the Commission initiated proceedings to determine whether there was reason to believe that the Committee failed to remedy excessive and prohibited 2022 General Election contributions, totaling $28,195, within the permissible timeframes.
DISPOSITION: The Committee agreed to participate in an FEC training program and to pay a civil penalty of $2,100.

Regulations and agency procedures

Proposed Directive Regarding Investigations Conducted by the Office of General Counsel. On October 3, the Commission made public a comment on the proposed directive that it received from Campaign Legal Center.

Litigation

Common Cause Georgia, et al. v. FEC (Case No. 22-3067) On September 29, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order, granting both parties’ motions for summary judgment in part and denying them in part.

Outreach

On October 4, the Commission hosted a FECFile webinar for candidate committees.

On October 5, Commissioner Allen Dickerson met virtually with a class in Evidence at the University of Pittsburgh.

Press releases

District Court issues opinion in Common Cause Georgia, et al. v. FEC (issued October 2)

Upcoming Commission meetings and hearings

October 17, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

October 19, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

November 1, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

November 2, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

Upcoming educational programs

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

October 15: October Quarterly Reports are due. For more information, see the 2023 Quarterly Reporting schedule.

October 20: October Monthly Reports are due. For more information, see the 2023 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 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.