Week of November 22-26, 2021

Commission meetings and hearings

No open meetings or executive sessions were scheduled this week.

Advisory Opinions

Opinion Issued

Advisory Opinion 2021-12 (Congressman Adam Schiff and Schiff for Congress) On November 22, the Commission approved on tally vote Advisory Opinion 2021-12 in response to a request from Congressman Adam Schiff and Schiff for Congress (the Committee), in which Schiff and the Committee presented two alternative proposals to rent the Committee's email list to a book publisher to promote a book written by Congressman Schiff. The Commission concluded that both proposals are permissible under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended, (the Act) and Commission regulations. Chair Shana M. Broussard and Commissioners Steven T. Walther and Ellen L. Weintraub issued a Concurring Statement.

Draft Advisory Opinions

Advisory Opinion Request 2021-11 (DSCC and DCCC) On November 22, the Commission made public two draft advisory opinions (Draft A and Draft B) in response to a request from the DSCC and DCCC, national political party committees. The requestors ask whether text messages sent by the committees via short code messaging programs are "public communications" for purposes of the Act and Commission regulations.

Enforcement

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

MUR 7652

COMPLAINANT: William Perry, Georgia Ethics Watchdogs
RESPONDENTS: Nicole Rodden for Congress, Inc. and Paul Kilgore, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee); Nicole Rodden; and Robert Rodden
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that Robert Rodden loaned his wife's campaign committee $100,000, as reported on the Committee's original July 2019 Quarterly Report. The complaint alleged that this loan constituted an impermissible excessive contribution by Robert Rodden that the candidate and the Committee accepted in violation of the Act. Nicole Rodden was a 2020 candidate from Georgia's 6th Congressional District.
DISPOSITION: The Commission closed the file. Vice Chair Allen Dickerson and Commissioners Sean J. Cooksey and James E. "Trey" Trainor III issued a Statement of Reasons.

Administrative Fines

The Commission made public 46 closed cases, as follows. For more information, see the case documents in the Administrative Fine search system.

AF 3916 Task Force Griggs for Congress and Laurie Thomas, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $661.

AF 4039 Alexandra Owensby for The People and Dr. Alexandra Owensby, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $1,267.

AF 4040 Blair for Congress 2020 and Blair Walsingham, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $5,237.

AF 4041 Brad Barron for US Senate and Jill M. Barron, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $6,735.

AF 4042 Committee to Elect Antoine Pierce and Alice Woods, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $704.

AF 4043 Citizens for Jade Simmons and Jade Simmons, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $232.

AF 4044 Committee to Elect Mauro Garza for US Congress and Iris Elizabeth Castillo, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $1,900.

AF 4045 Emily Robinson for Congress and Emily Robinson, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $6,735.

AF 4046 George Mitris for Congress and Thomas Costa, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $6,735.

AF 4047 Janicek for Senate and Office of Treasurer, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed no civil penalty.

AF 4048 Lenzi for Congress and Sylvia Drake, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $114.

AF 4049 Rob Anderson for Louisiana and Robert Jon Anderson, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $4,041.

AF 4050 Ronda Kennedy for Congress and Michael Warren Kennedy, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $1,267.

AF 4066 43 Alumni for America and Karen Kirksey, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed no civil penalty.

AF 4067 America Great PAC and Jason Pallante, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $9,695.

AF 4068 American Dignity PAC and James Dirk Schwenk, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $259.

AF 4069 American Pro-Israel PAC and Jeanne Sullivan, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed no civil penalty.

AF 4070 Amsted Industries Incorporated PAC and Tristan Paige Lopez, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $527.

AF 4071 Battle for America PAC and Winston Wolfe, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $301.

AF 4072 Bronx United and Rush Perez, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed no civil penalty.

AF 4073 Calumet PAC and Cynthia Lopez, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $200.

AF 4074 Campaign to Support the President and Matt Tunstall, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $142.

AF 4076 Conservative Opportunities for a New America PAC and William R. Bain, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $438.

AF 4077 Democratic Foundation of Orange County and Glen Hatton, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $704.

AF 4078 District 1199C Nat'l Union of Hospital & Health Care Employees Political Action Fund and Salima Pace, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $494.

AF 4079 Farmers' Rice Cooperative Fund and Bill Tanimoto, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $177.

AF 4080 Future Generations and Jeanne E. Legault, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $4,977.

AF 4081 Hometown Values PAC and Francis Xavier Helgesen, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $337.

AF 4082 LV Strong and Christopher Nicholas, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $704.

AF 4083 Massachusetts Bankers PAC-Federal Fund and Kevin F. Kiley, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $187.

AF 4084 MSCPAC and Steve Markosky, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $704.

AF 4085 Natural Products Association Political Action Committee and Dan Fabricant, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $102.

AF 4087 NIAC Action PAC and Jamal Abdi, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $6,735.

AF 4088 Oklahoma Leadership Council and Joe Hart, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $12,984.

AF 4089 Only If You Run and Rebecca Berwick, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $422.

AF 4090 People Powered Action and Gwendolyn Pulido, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $5,933.

AF 4092 Regular People and Paul Blum, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $6,194.

AF 4093 Salvemos a Puerto Rico and Joseph Fuentes, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $8,231.

AF 4094 Tarrant County Republican Victory Fund and Shannon Dubberly, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $8,082.

AF 4095 TFY PAC and Olubusola Obayan, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $293.

AF 4096 The Peter Norbeck Leadership PAC and Jason Glodt, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $6,735.

AF 4097 Together We Thrive and Christopher Zullo, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $6,735.

AF 4098 United American Veterans PAC and Bryan James Monville, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $1,267.

AF 4099 Visual Disobedience Campaign Committee and Philip L. Shemanski, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $241.

AF 4100 Washoe County Republican Central Committee and Patricia Miller, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $5,237.

AF 4101 Women Vote Smart and Amy S. Kremer, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $8,418.

Outreach

On November 21, Chair Broussard participated in a virtual observation of the Presidential Election in Chile.

Regulations and agency procedures

FEC Draft Strategic Plan, FY 2022-2026. The Commission requests public comment on the draft to help the Commission better understand the perspectives and meet the needs of individuals and groups who may be affected. Individuals may submit their comments via email at [email protected] through December 2, 2021.

Upcoming educational programs

December 1, 2021: The Commission will host an FECConnect On Topic session on How to Contact Your Committee's Analyst.

December 8, 2021: The Commission will host a webinar for nonconnected PACs.

February 8-9, 2022: The Commission will host a Regional Conference in San Diego, CA.

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

Upcoming Commission meetings

December 2, 2021: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session and hold an open meeting and an audit hearing.

December 14, 2021: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

December 16, 2021: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

Upcoming reporting due dates

December 20: December 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 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.

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.

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