Week of June 17 – 21, 2024

Commission meetings and hearings

No open meetings or executive sessions were scheduled this week.

Enforcement

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

MUR 7678

COMPLAINANT: John H. Eaves
RESPONDENTS: Keisha Carter; and John Eaves for Congress and John H. Eaves, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that Carter in her personal capacity knowingly and willfully (1) failed to deposit receipts in or make disbursements from an account at a properly designated campaign depository, (2) failed to keep campaign funds segregated from personal funds, (3) failed to keep accurate records and file accurate reports of receipts and disbursements, and (4) converted Committee funds to personal use. The complaint also included information indicating that the Committee failed to keep accurate records and to file accurate reports of receipts and disbursements.
DISPOSITION: The Commission took no further action as to the recordkeeping and reporting violations in connection with Keisha Carter, and it dismissed the allegations of personal use by Carter. The Commission entered into a conciliation agreement providing for Carter to pay a civil penalty of $50,000 in connection with the failure to deposit receipts in or make disbursements from an account at a properly designated campaign depository and failure to keep campaign funds segregated from personal funds.

MUR 8076

COMPLAINANT: Janay Barnes
RESPONDENTS: Lake for Congress and Constance Saylease Prater-Baker, in her official capacity as treasurer (Lake for Congress); Lake for Indiana and Michelle Harding, in her official capacity as treasurer (Lake for Indiana); and Jeannine Lake
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that Lake, Lake for Congress and Lake for Indiana failed to report contributions and comply with campaign depository requirements, commingled campaign funds, and converted campaign funds to personal use. The complaint also included information indicating that the two committees repeatedly failed to properly and timely file disclosure reports with the Commission. Lake was a 2018, 2020, and 2022 candidate for Indiana’s 5th Congressional District.
DISPOSITION: The Commission dismissed the allegations.

MUR 8128

COMPLAINANT: Tiffany Muller, End Citizens United
RESPONDENTS: D’Esposito for New York and Claudia Armendinger, in her official capacity as treasurer (Federal Committee); Citizens for D’Esposito (terminated) (State Committee); and Anthony D’Esposito
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that the State Committee made and the Federal Committee accepted a prohibited $1,000 transfer and in-kind contributions totaling $123,218.44. The complaint alleged further that the State Committee received a minimum of $44,410 in impermissible corporate contributions after D’Esposito became a federal candidate. D’Esposito and his Federal and State Committees. D’Esposito was a 2022 candidate for New York’s 4th Congressional District.
DISPOSITION: The Commission dismissed the allegations.

Public Disclosure

On June 18, the Commission announced that it has been awarded $8.8 million by the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) to aid in modernizing FECFile, the Commission’s free report filing software program used by more than 9,000 federal political committees to meet their campaign finance disclosure requirements. The project is targeted for completion by 2027. The FEC will receive the funds in increments and will repay half of the original amount of the award over the next five years. TMF is a federal funding vehicle formed to support federal agency IT modernization projects.

Outreach

On June 18, Commissioner James E. “Trey” Trainor, III spoke to the Houston Chapter of the Federalist Society on recent developments in campaign finance law.

On June 20, Commissioner Dara Lindenbaum participated in a panel discussion on AI and Elections at the Asheville Ideas Fest.

Press releases

FEC receives $8.8 million award to modernize agency’s electronic filing system (issued June 18)

FEC cites committee for failure to file 12-Day Pre-Primary Financial Report (issued June 21)

Upcoming Commission meetings and hearings

June 25, 2024: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

June 27, 2024: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

July 9, 2024: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

July 11, 2024: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

Upcoming educational opportunities

June 26, 2024: The Commission will host reporting and FECFile webinars for candidate committees.

July 10, 2024: The Commission will host a FECFile webinar for PACs and party committees.

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

Upcoming reporting due dates

July 15: July Quarterly Reports are due. For more information, see the 2024 Quarterly Reporting schedule.

July 20: July 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.