Week of February 1-5, 2021

Commission meetings and hearings

No open meetings or executive sessions were scheduled this week.

Advisory Opinions

Request Received

Advisory Opinion Request 2021-03 (NRSC and NRCC). On January 29, the Commission made public an advisory opinion request from the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee, asking whether their members may use campaign funds to pay for personal security personnel to protect the members and their families from threatened harm. The Commission must issue a response no later than 60 days after receipt of the complete request, that is, by March 29, 2021.

Public Disclosure

FR Notice 2021-03. On February 2, the Commission published updated contribution limits for the 2021-2022 election cycle in the Federal Register. The Commission also updated the coordinated party expenditure limits and the lobbyist bundling threshold for 2021.

On February 1, the Commission published the 2020 Presidential General Election Results, using data certified by state election offices.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

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

ADR 955

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: Americans for Prosperity Action, Inc. and Alex Varban, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
SUBJECT: In the normal course of exercising its supervisory responsibilities, the Commission initiated proceedings to determine whether the Committee failed to file in a timely manner a total of five 48-Hour Reports supporting 20 independent expenditures totaling $294,963.75 that were disclosed on its Amended 2018 October Quarterly Report and its 2018 12-Day Pre-General Report.
DISPOSITION: The Committee agreed to 1) develop and certify implementation of a compliance operations manual that includes internal controls, 2) certify that a representative participated in an FEC training, and 3) pay a civil penalty of $18,350.

ADR 961

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: DNC Services Corp/Democratic National Committee and William Derrough, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
SUBJECT: In the normal course of exercising its supervisory responsibilities, the Commission initiated proceedings to determine whether the Committee failed to disclose $946,780.40 in receipts on its original 2019 May Monthly Report.
DISPOSITION: The Committee agreed to 1) certify that a representative participated in an FEC training and 2) pay a civil penalty of $10,500.

ADR 963

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: Communities for a New California C4
SUBJECT: In the normal course of exercising its supervisory responsibilities, the Commission initiated proceedings to determine whether the Respondent failed to timely file two 48-Hour Reports to support 90 independent expenditures totaling $128,297.81 disclosed on its 2018 Year-End Report.
DISPOSITION: Respondent agreed to 1) develop and certify implementation of a policy document to be provided to external compliance vendors detailing procedures to ensure timely and accurate reporting of independent expenditures, 2) certify that a representative participated in an FEC training, and 3) pay a civil penalty of $6,400.

ADR 964

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: Case Action Fund
SUBJECT: In the normal course of exercising its supervisory responsibilities, the Commission initiated proceedings to determine whether the Respondent had not disclosed until after the 2018 General Election 101 independent expenditures totaling $133,427.52 that were made prior to the election, and whether it had failed to file 24- or 48-Hour Reports of these expenditures.
DISPOSITION: Respondent agreed to 1) develop and certify implementation of a compliance operations manual, 2) certify that a representative had participated in an FEC training, and 3) pay a civil penalty of $6,650.

ADR 965

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: VoteVets.org Action Fund
SUBJECT: In the normal course of carrying out its supervisory responsibilities, the Commission initiated proceedings to determine whether Respondent failed to file the 2019 October Quarterly Report in a timely manner to support the independent expenditures totaling $226,883.50 disclosed on a 48-Hour Report.
DISPOSITION: Respondent agreed to 1) certify that a representative of the entity participated in an FEC training and 2) (b) pay a civil penalty of $6,250.

ADR 968

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: Friends of John Delaney and Edward P. Nordberg, Jr. 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 the Committee failed to disclose all financial activity on its 2019 Year-End Report.
DISPOSITION: The Committee agreed to 1) certify that a representative of the Committee participated in an FEC training and 2) pay a civil penalty of $5,000.

ADR 970

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: The 2016 Committee and William Saracino, 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 the Committee failed file 24- and 48-Hour Reports of independent expenditures totaling $3,680,040 in a timely manner.
DISPOSITION: The Committee agreed to 1) file a report to clarify the public record and 2) pay a civil penalty of $10,000.

ADR 973

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: GRIT PAC and Robert Phillips, III 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 the Committee failed to file a 24-Hour Report totaling $25,214 to support an independent expenditure disclosed on the 2020 April Quarterly Report.
DISPOSITION: The Committee agreed to 1) develop and certify implementation of a policy document to be provided to external vendors detailing communication procedures to ensure timely and accurate reporting of independent expenditures, 2) certify that a representative of the Committee participated in an FEC training, and 3) pay a civil penalty of $1,900.

Audits

Democratic Foundation of Orange County. On February 5, the Commission made public the Final Audit Report of the Democratic Foundation of Orange County, covering campaign finance activity from January 1, 2017 through December 31, 2018. The Commission approved a finding that no material non-compliance was discovered during the audit process.

Press Releases

FEC announces 2021-2022 campaign cycle contribution limits (issued February 2)

Upcoming educational programs

March 3, 2021: The Commission will hold a webinar for corporations and their PACs.

Upcoming Commission meetings

February 9, 2021: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

February 23, 2021: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

February 25, 2021: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting and meet in executive session.

Upcoming reporting due dates

February 20: February Monthly Reports are due. For more information, see the 2021 Monthly Reporting schedule.

Status of agency operations

See the Commission’s statement on the status of agency operations, updated on January 4, 2021. At this stage, most agency staff remain in telework status and the Commission’s office remains closed to visitors.

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.

2020 Presidential General Election Results and Federal Elections 2018: Election Results for the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives are 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.

Additional research materials about the agency, campaign finance information, and election results are available through the Library section of the Commission website.

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 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 currently. The use of the agency’s logo, name, and likeness on other media has not been authorized by the FEC.