Week of September 3 - 6, 2019

Commission meetings and hearings

No open meetings or executive sessions were scheduled this week.

Enforcement

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

MUR 6792 (Sean Eldridge; Sean Eldridge for Congress and Michael Oates, in his official capacity as treasurer; and Hudson Valley Economic Development Corporation). Vice Chairman Matthew S. Petersen and Commissioner Caroline C. Hunter issued a Statement of Reasons.

MUR 6798 (The Fund for Louisiana’s Future and Charles Spies, in his official capacity as treasurer; David Vitter for U.S. Senate and William Vanderbrook, in his official capacity as treasurer; David Vitter; Lisa Spies; and Courtney Guastella). Vice Chairman Petersen and Commissioner Hunter issued a Statement of Reasons.

MUR 6848 (Friends of George Demos and Robert Cole, in his official capacity as treasurer; George Demos; Angelo Tsakopoulos; Chrysanthy T. Demos; and AKT Development Corporation). Vice Chairman Petersen and Commissioner Hunter issued a Statement of Reasons.

MUR 7006 (Andrew Heaney; Heaney for Congress and Patrick Gosselin, in his official capacity as treasurer; Heaney Energy Corp.; Submarine Rock, LLC; Little Deep, LLC; Skaggs-Walsh, Inc.; Allison Heaney; New York Jobs Council and Sloane Skinner, in her official capacity as treasurer; Robert Cole; In the Field Consulting, LLC; Crimson Public Affairs, LLC; and James “Jake” Menges). Vice Chairman Petersen and Commissioner Hunter issued a Statement of Reasons.

MURs 7304 and 7331 (Hillary Victory Fund, et al.). Vice Chairman Petersen and Commissioner Hunter issued a Statement of Reasons.

Administrative Fines

The Commission made public 10 closed cases, as follows. For more information, see the case documents in the Enforcement Query System.

AF 3618
Klobuchar for Minnesota and M. Brigid McDonough, in her official capacity as treasurer. The Commission voted to terminate the proceedings and closed the file.

AF 3624
Americans Supporting Veterans PAC and Mark Sly, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $3,063.

AF 3644
Peace Action PAC/FKA SANE/FREEZE PAC and Rosalie Greene, in her official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $3,501.

AF 3655
Together We Thrive and Christopher Zullo, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission voted to terminate the proceedings and closed the file.

AF 3665
Americans Supporting Veterans PAC and Mark Sly, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $6,541.

AF 3677
Committee to Elect Ron Varasteh and Masha Macurda, in her official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed no civil penalty.

AF 3687
Friends of David Wertime and Richard Wertime, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission voted to terminate the proceedings and closed the file.

AF 3690
George Franklin for Congress and Heather Ricketts, in her official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed no civil penalty.

AF 3707
Sam Deen for Congress and Teri Lynn Pruitt, in her official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed no civil penalty.

AF 3718
TranSystems Corporation PAC and Paul J. Malir, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $278.

Audits

Final Audit Report of the Commission on the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association PAC (ASCAPAC) On September 5, the Commission made public the Final Audit Report of the Commission on the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association PAC, covering campaign finance activity from January 1, 2015 through December 31, 2016. The Commission approved findings relating to misstatement of financial activity, receipt of prohibited contributions, recordkeeping for receipts, disclosure of receipts, and untimely deposit of receipts.

Litigation

Campaign Legal Center, et al. v. FEC, et al. (Case No. 18-5239) On September 5, Plaintiffs-Appellants Campaign Legal Center and Democracy 21 filed a Reply Brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Outreach

On September 5-6, Lisa Stevenson, Acting General Counsel, Office of General Counsel, and Debbie Chacona, Assistant Staff Director, Reports Analysis Division, participated in panel discussions at the annual conference of the Practising Law Institute in Washington, D.C.

Upcoming events

On September 17, Chair Ellen L. Weintraub will host a symposium entitled "Digital Disinformation and the Threat to Democracy: Information Integrity in the 2020 Elections," co-sponsored by Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America and Eileen Donahoe, Executive Director of the Cyber Policy Center’s Global Digital Policy Incubator at Stanford University. The symposium will discuss policy approaches and tools addressing such issues as how to minimize disruptions by foreign influence operations in the 2020 campaign. Attendees are encouraged to RSVP to Stephen Fee (sfee@pen.org) or Michele Riggio (mriggio@pen.org) by September 13, 2019.

Upcoming reporting due dates

September 20: September Monthly reports are due. For more information on monthly reporting dates, refer to the 2019 Monthly Reporting page of the Commission website.

Upcoming educational programs

On October 29-30, the Commission will host a Regional Conference in San Diego, CA for candidates, political parties, and political action committees.

Additional research materials

FEC Notify: Want to be notified by email when campaign finance reports are received by the agency? Sign up here.

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 2019 edition of Title 11 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) are 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 2019 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. 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.

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 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 media has not been authorized by the FEC.