Week of April 15 - 19, 2024

Commission meetings and hearings

On April 16 and 18, the Commission met in executive session.

On April 18, the Commission held an open meeting.

Advisory Opinions

Opinion Discussed and Extension of Time Received

Advisory Opinion 2024-03 (Politicalmeetings.com, LLC) On April 18, the Commission discussed an advisory opinion request from PoliticalMeetings.com LLC, which asked whether it may use its website and mobile application platforms to provide information about public meetings with federal, state, and local candidates and national party committees to subscribers that contribute monthly to participating candidates and national party committees. During the discussion, the Commission heard from the requestor. On April 18, the Commission received an extension of time until May 2, 2024 from the requestor.

Enforcement

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

MUR 8046

COMPLAINANT: End Citizens United and Tiffany Muller
RESPONDENT: Maryott for Congress and Brian Maryott, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that the Committee failed to disclose campaign-related payments made by Maryott and other campaign employees through Venmo.
DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the matter.

MUR 8071

COMPLAINANTS: Campaign Legal Center; and End Citizens United PAC
RESPONDENT: NRSC and Keith Davis, in his official capacity as treasurer (NRSC)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that the NRSC improperly made 12 disbursements totaling over $3.6 million for campaign activities from its segregated account designated for election recounts and contests and other legal proceedings. The Complaint alleged that the NRSC’s disbursements for “media,” “media production and placement,” “research,” “direct mail,” and “digital consulting” were in fact campaign expenditures with no relation to any election recount or contest, or other legal proceeding.
DISPOSITION: The Commission found no reason to believe that the NRSC improperly disbursed funds from its legal proceedings account for “digital consulting,” “direct mail production,” and “research” totaling $246,561. The Commission closed the file in connection with other allegations in the complaint regarding “media,” “media placement,” and “media production” totaling $3,359,363. Chairman Sean J. Cooksey, Vice Chair Ellen L. Weintraub and Commissioner Shana M. Broussard, and Commissioners Allen J. Dickerson, Dara Lindenbaum, and James E. “Trey” Trainor, III issued Statements of Reasons. Commissioners Dickerson and Trainor also issued a separate Statement of Reasons.

MUR 8086

COMPLAINANT: Joann Wright
RESPONDENT: Committee to Elect Sam Peters and Thomas Datwyler, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that the Committee accepted $20,800 for the 2022 primary election after that election occurred, which exceeded the net debts outstanding for that election and resulted in excessive and impermissible contributions. The complaint alleged further that the Committee has not used any of that sum for primary debt retirement for the 2022 primary and that it has carried nearly $100,000 in campaign debts for the past three years, possibly as a pretext to raise additional funds beyond the legal limits for use in future elections.
DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and closed the file.

MUR 8153

COMPLAINANT: Westley Crouch
RESPONDENT: Burnett for Colorado and Blair Schuman, in her official capacity as treasurer (the Committee); Debby Burnett; and Westley Crouch
SUBJECT: The complaint, which was treated as a sua sponte submission, alleged that Crouch made and Burnett and the Committee accepted and failed to report an excessive contribution when Crouch agreed to forgive a $20,000 debt for services rendered to the Committee. Burnett is a 2024 candidate for Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District.
DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the matter.

Regulations and agency procedures

REG 2019-01 (Valuable Information) - Draft Notice of Disposition On April 18, the Commission approved a Notice of Disposition of a Petition for Rulemaking that asked the Commission to amend the existing regulation defining “contribution” by adding a new section to include within the definition of contribution certain “valuable information.” The Petition would further require the Commission to initiate investigations and report to a law enforcement agency “automatically” and without a vote whenever the Commission receives notice that any person has received certain “foreign information” or “compromising information.” The Commission voted not to initiate a rulemaking at this time for the reasons detailed in the notice which include the Commission’s lack of statutory authority to do so.

REG 2015-03 (Contributions from Corporations and Other Organizations) - Draft Notice of Disposition On April 18, the Commission approved, subject to a single line edit made at the table, a Notice of Disposition of a Petition for Rulemaking that asked the Commission to revise existing rules concerning the reporting of contributions to political committees from corporations and other organizations. The Commission voted not to initiate a rulemaking at this time for the reasons detailed in the notice including because (1) it lacks the statutory authority to do so and (2) the vast majority of the commenters opposed the Petition.

REG 2024-02 (Implementation of FOIA Improvement Act) - Draft Interim Final Rule On April 18, the Commission approved an Interim Final Rule on Implementation of the FOIA Improvement Act, by which the Commission would amend its regulations to implement a statutory mandate requiring federal agencies to change how certain records and documents are made available for public inspection. The Commission encourages comments on this revision to its regulations and any comments received may be addressed in a subsequent rulemaking document. All comments must be in writing. Commenters are encouraged to submit comments electronically, referencing REG 2024-02, to ensure timely receipt and consideration. Alternatively, comments may be submitted in paper form addressed to the Federal Election Commission, Attn.: Amy L. Rothstein, Assistant General Counsel, 1050 First Street, NE, Washington, DC 20463. The comment deadline will be 30 days after the Interim Final Rule is published in the Federal Register and the Interim Final Rule will be effective July 1, 2024.

Press releases

FEC approves three rulemaking documents, discusses advisory opinion request (issued April 18)

Outreach

On April 16 and 17, the Commission hosted a webinar for corporations and their PACs.

Upcoming Commission meetings and hearings

April 30, 2024: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

May 1, 2024: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

May 14, 2024: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

May 16, 2024: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

Upcoming educational opportunities

May 7-8, 2024: The Commission will host a webinar for membership and labor organizations and their PACs.

May 21-22, 2024: The Commission will host a webinar for trade associations and their PACs.

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

Upcoming reporting due dates

April 20: April Monthly Reports are due. For more information, see the 2024 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 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.