Week of June 3 – 7, 2024

Commission meetings and hearings

On June 4 and 6, the Commission met in executive session.

The Commission voted to cancel the open meeting scheduled for June 6.

Enforcement

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

MUR 7773

COMPLAINANT: Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust; and Kendra Arnold
RESPONDENTS: Eugene DePasquale; Eugene DePasquale for Pennsylvania (State Committee); and DePasquale for PA 10 and Rick Galena, in his official capacity as treasurer (Federal Committee)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that the State Committee made in-kind contributions and transferred assets for DePasquale’s testing-the-waters activity ahead of his candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives, and that the Federal Committee failed to disclose in-kind contributions from the State Committee. DePasquale, Pennsylvania’s former Auditor General, was a 2020 candidate for the state’s 10th Congressional District.
DISPOSITION: The Commission dismissed the allegations. Chairman Sean J. Cooksey and Commissioners Allen J. Dickerson and James E. “Trey” Trainor, III and Vice Chair Ellen L. Weintraub and Commissioner Shana M. Broussard issued Statements of Reasons.

MUR 8048

COMPLAINANT: Liz Dupont-Diehl, CT Citizen Action Group
RESPONDENT: Fight for Connecticut and Bill Cortese, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that the Committee failed to file its 2021 Year-End and 2022 April Quarterly and July Quarterly Reports, and that Cortes improperly held a position as a paid staff person at a PAC.
DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the matter.

MUR 8132

COMPLAINANT: Moses K. Ayala, Esq., Committee to Defeat the President
RESPONDENTS: ActBlue and George Gilmer, in his official capacity as treasurer (ActBlue); Warnock for Georgia and Christopher Koob, in his official capacity as treasurer; Senator Raphael Warnock; Fetterman for PA and Jay Petterson, in his official capacity as treasurer; Senator John Karl Fetterman; Biden for President and Keana Spencer, in her official capacity as treasurer; President Joseph R. Biden; Bernie 2020 and Lora Haggard, in her official capacity as treasurer; and Senator Bernard Sanders
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that ActBlue made and failed to report excessive, in-kind contributions to four candidates and their principal campaign committees in the form of the email addresses and telephone numbers of persons who contributed to each of the candidates and committees through ActBlue in the 2020 and 2022 cycles, and that those committees received and failed to report the contributions.
DISPOSITION: The Commission dismissed the allegations because they were too speculative to support a finding of reason to believe that ActBlue incurred additional costs to provide the committees with the email address and phone numbers of their contributors when transmitting contributor information.

MUR 8196

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: The Moderate PAC, Inc. and Marysue Strong, in her 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 timely file five 24-Hour Reports totaling $582,652 to support seven independent expenditures disclosed on its 2022 30-Day Post-General Report.
DISPOSITION: The Commission entered into a conciliation agreement providing for the Committee to pay a civil penalty of $58,000.

MUR 8201

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: PA Lawyer Fund and Sid Hawach, 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 the required 24-Hour Report for eight independent expenditures totaling $2.5 million disclosed on its 2022 30-Day Post-General Report.
DISPOSITION: The Commission entered into a conciliation agreement providing for the Committee to pay a civil penalty of $25,000.

Administrative Fines

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

AF 4672 Casey for Congress and Jonathan Ucran, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission terminated the proceedings and closed the file.

Outreach

On June 5, the Commission hosted a webinar for nonconnected PACs.

Press releases

FEC cites committee for failure to file 12-Day Pre-Primary Financial Report (issued June 7)

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

June 20: June 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.