Week of July 22 – 26, 2024

Commission meetings and hearings

On July 23 and 25, the Commission met in executive session.

On July 25, the Commission held an open meeting.

Advisory Opinions

Advisory opinion issued

Advisory Opinion Request 2024-08 (Bob Good and Bob Good for Congress) On July 25, the Commission approved an advisory opinion in response to a request from Congressman Bob Good and Good for Congress, concerning the committee's proposal to seek permission from general election contributors to redesignate their contributions from the general election to the recount fund, and then redesignate funds from those contributors who grant such permission. The Commission concluded that the proposal is permissible, because nothing in the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended (the Act), or Commission regulations prohibits the proposed redesignations, and the Commission has previously concluded that authorized committees could request redesignation of contributions in circumstances that are not addressed in Commission regulations, so long as the redesignations otherwise complied with the regulatory requirements for redesignations. Chairman Sean J. Cooksey issued a Dissenting Statement and Commissioners Allen J. Dickerson and James E. "Trey" Trainor, III issued a Statement.

Request received

Advisory Opinion Request 2024-10 (Alan Lowenthal and Alan Lowenthal for Congress) On July 23, 2024, the Commission made public an advisory opinion request from retired Congressman Alan Lowenthal and his principal campaign committee, Alan Lowenthal for Congress. The requestors ask whether Congressman Lowenthal may use some of the remaining campaign funds to pay a researcher and/or editor to assist in drafting a book or other publication related to his experience in Congress. The Commission will accept written comments on the request during the 10-day period following publication of the request (no later than August 2) and must issue a response no later than 60 days after the receipt of the complete request, that is, by Sept. 16, 2024.

Enforcement

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

MUR 7615

COMPLAINANTS: Heller for Senate and Chrissie Hastie, in her official capacity as treasurer (Heller Committee); and HellerHighWater PAC and Chrissie Hastie, in her official capacity as treasurer (the PAC)
RESPONDENTS: Ryan Phillips; and In Compliance, Inc.
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that Phillips, a former partner at In Compliance, Inc., knowingly and willfully violated the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended (the Act), by converting Heller Committee funds to personal use and by commingling PAC funds with his personal funds. Specifically, the complaint alleged that Phillips misappropriated $46,226.66 from the Heller Committee and $139,051.38 from the PAC through unauthorized withdrawals, checks, and transfers, and used those funds to make direct payments to himself or pay his personal expenses directly to merchants. Phillips allegedly made multiple false entries in the accounting and campaign software and then reconciled the committees' bank statements with the accounting and campaign software to hide his illegal transactions.
DISPOSITION: On June 22, 2023, the Commission found probable cause to believe Phillips knowingly and willfully violated the Act. The Commission also voted to make a referral of the knowing and willful violations to the Department of Justice pursuant to 52 U.S.C. §30109(a)(5)(c). On April 8, 2024, Phillips was sentenced to three years' probation. On June 6, 2024, the Commission voted to take no further action and closed the file.

MURs 8207 and 8208
COMPLAINANTS: Antonio Rodriguez; and David Gomez Martinez
RESPONDENTS: Kevin McCarthy; Kevin McCarthy for Congress and Jill Thomson, in her official capacity as treasurer (McCarthy Committee); McCarthy Victory Fund and Jill Thomson, in her official capacity as treasurer (MVF); and Majority Committee PAC-MC PAC and Jill Thomson, in her official capacity as treasurer (Leadership PAC)
SUBJECT: The complaints alleged that McCarthy, the McCarthy Committee, MVF and the Leadership PAC converted approximately $240,000 in campaign funds to personal use at a resort between December 12, 2015 and May 3, 2018. McCarthy was a candidate for reelection in California's 20th Congressional District.
DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the matter.

Administrative Fines

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

AF 4673 Holly McCormack for Congress and Holly McCormack, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $24,406.

AF 4674 Jones, Herb (US House) and Ella Webster, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $1,713.

AF 4675 Reed for Missouri and Christina Lynch, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission voted to take no further action against the committee.

Public funding

Certification of Payment of Presidential Primary Matching Funds (Mike Pence/Mike Pence for President) On July 24, the Commission voted on tally to certify to the Secretary of the Treasury a payment of $617,373.99 from the Presidential Election Campaign Fund (PECF) to Pence and Mike Pence for President.

Regulations and agency procedures

REG 2013-06 (Administrative Fines Program Expansion) - Draft Notice of Proposed Rulemaking On July 25, the Commission approved a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing to expand the Administrative Fines Program to include violations resulting from the failure of persons to file, or to timely file, three types of filings: (1) 24-hour reports of independent expenditures, (2) 48-hour reports of independent expenditures, and (3) 24-hour notices of electioneering communications. The program currently includes violations when political committees fail to file timely reports as required by 52 U.S.C. § 30104(a) (requiring political committee treasurers to report receipts and disbursements within certain time periods). The Commission seeks comment on the proposed rule and has made no final decision on the issues presented in this rulemaking. Commenters are encouraged to submit comments electronically via the Commission's website by referencing REG 2013-06. The deadline for comments is 30 days following publication in the Federal Register.

REG 2024-04 (Form 3Z) - Draft Notice of Proposed Rulemaking On July 25, the Commission approved a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing to amend its regulations by removing the requirement that the principal campaign committee of a candidate with multiple authorized committees must report information on FEC Form 3-Z. The Commission seeks comment on the proposed rule and has made no final decision on the issues presented in this rulemaking. Commenters are encouraged to submit comments electronically via the Commission's website by referencing REG 2024-04. The deadline for comments is 30 days following publication in the Federal Register.

REG 2016-03 (Political Party Rules) - Draft Notice of Disposition On July 25, the Commission approved a notification of disposition of a petition for rulemaking, which was filed in June 2016 by the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. The party subsequently submitted a new petition that revoked and incorporated the substance of the 2016 Petition, and as a result, the Commission is not initiating a rulemaking in response to that petition.

REG 2024-07 (Political Party Rules II) - Draft Notice of Availability On July 25, the Commission approved a notice of availability of a Petition for Rulemaking from the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. The party asked the Commission to amend several of its regulations applicable to state, district, or local committees of political parties. The Commission seeks comment on the notice. Commenters are encouraged to submit comments electronically via the Commission's website by referencing REG 2024-07. The deadline for comments is 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.

REG 2024-01 (Candidate Security) On July 23, the Commission made public a late comment it received from the DSCC and DCCC in response to a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that would codify several Commission advisory opinions that authorized the use of campaign funds to pay for certain security measures and address additional issues raised in those advisory opinions.

Litigation

CREW v. FEC (Case No. 22-35) On July 23, the Commission filed an Opposition to Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment or Default Judgment and Reply in Support of Motion for a Voluntary Remand in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Outreach

On July 23, 2024, Vice Chair Ellen L. Weintraub participated virtually in the Digital Hollywood AI Summit to discuss campaign finance, transparency, political disinformation, and AI.

On July 25, Commissioner Shana M. Broussard delivered remarks at the 2024 National Urban League Conference - Presidential Plenary in New Orleans, LA.

Press releases

FEC referral secures criminal conviction in campaign finance matter (issued July 22)

FEC approves advisory opinion, rulemaking documents (issued July 25)

FEC certifies additional matching funds for Pence (issued July 26)

Employment opportunities

The Commission is accepting applications for the position of Supervisory IT Specialist (Enterprise Architecture) through August 9, 2024.

Upcoming Commission meetings and hearings

August 13, 2024: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

August 15, 2024: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

August 27, 2024: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

August 29, 2024: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

Upcoming educational opportunities

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 2024 Monthly Reporting schedule.

Additional research materials

Election Dates. The Commission has posted 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 X and YouTube

Follow @FEC on X 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.

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