Week of February 21-25, 2022

Commission meetings and hearings

No open meetings or executive sessions were scheduled this week.

Enforcement

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

MUR 7425

COMPLAINANTS: FEC-Initiated; and Campaign Legal Center, Sandhya Bathija, and Brendan M. Fischer
RESPONDENTS: Donald J. Trump Foundation (the Foundation); Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. and Bradley T. Crate, in his official capacity as Treasurer (the Committee); Donald J. Trump; Trump Organization; Corey Lewandowski; Allen Weisselberg; Jeff McConney; Madeline Campbell Burr; Hope Hicks; Stuart Jolly; Brad Parscale; Ivanka Trump; Eric Trump; and Donald Trump, Jr.
SUBJECT: In the normal course of carrying out its supervisory activities and in response to a complaint, the Commission initiated proceedings to determine whether there was reason to believe that former President Trump, the Committee, and the Foundation violated the Act and Commission regulations when they, along with the other respondents, participated in the solicitation, acceptance, and disbursement of funds not subject to the source limitations, amount prohibitions, and reporting requirements of the Act in connection with a fundraiser event for the 2016 presidential election.
DISPOSITION: The Commission closed the file. Commissioners Shana M. Broussard and Ellen L. Weintraub issued a Statement of Reasons. Chairman Allen Dickerson and Commissioners Sean J. Cooksey and James E. “Trey” Trainor, III issued a Statement of Reasons.

Audits

Final Audit Report on the Connecticut Democratic State Central Committee. On February 23, the Commission made public the Final Audit Report of the Commission on the Connecticut Democratic State Central Committee, covering campaign finance activity between January 1, 2017 and December 31, 2018. The Commission approved findings relating to contributions from unregistered political organizations, recordkeeping for employees, and reporting of debts and obligations.

Litigation

Campaign Legal Center, et al. v. FEC (Case No. 20-730) On February 23, Plaintiffs filed a Reply in Further Support of Their Motion for Reconsideration in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

CREW v. FEC (Case No. 22-0035) On February 23, the Commission made public a Vote Certification.

Stein, et al. v. FEC (Case No. 21-1213) On October 29, 2021, Petitioners filed a Petition for Review of Agency Action in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Outreach

On February 23, the Commission hosted an FECConnect On Topic session on 2022 filing dates.

Upcoming Commission meetings

March 8 and 10, 2022: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

March 10, 2022: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

March 22 and 24, 2022: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

March 24, 2022: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

Upcoming educational programs

March 9 and 16: The Commission will host webinars on independent expenditures.

March 23: The Commission will host a webinar for candidate committees.

March 30: The Commission will host FECFile webinars for candidates, PACs, and party committees.

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

Upcoming reporting due dates

March 20: March Monthly Reports are due. For more information, see the 2022 Monthly Reporting schedule.

Status of agency operations

See the Commission’s statement on the status of agency operations, updated on April 15, 2021. At this stage, most agency staff remain in telework status and the Commission’s office remains closed to visitors. See also the agency’s Workplace Safety Plan, dated May 6, 2021.

Updated Campaign Guide

The Commission recently updated its Campaign Guide for Congressional Candidates and Committees. The new Guide, which replaces the 2014 edition, provides an overall summary of the federal campaign finance laws that apply to candidates for the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate and their campaign committees.

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 Presidential Election Campaign Fund Tax Checkoff Chart provides information on the 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.