FEC - Federal Election Commission

05/16/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 05/16/2025 14:15

Week of May 12 – 16, 2025

Commission meetings and hearings

No open meetings or executive sessions were scheduled this week.

Enforcement

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

MUR 6655

COMPLAINANT: Roland Sanchez-Medina Jr.
RESPONDENTS: Justin Lamar Sternad; Lamar Sternad for Congress and Justin Lamar Sternad, in his official capacity as treasurer (Sternad Committee); Ana Sol Alliegro; David Rivera; and David Rivera for Congress and Nancy Watkins, in her official capacity as treasurer (Rivera Committee)
SUBJECT: This matter involved a scheme to fund the congressional campaign of Justin Lemar Sternad, a 2012 candidate for Florida's 26th District, almost exclusively with contributions secretly funneled to him by his would-be general election opponent. Had he won the Democratic primary election, Sternad would have faced then-incumbent Congressman David Rivera in the 2012 general election. To pay for the campaign, Sternad received ten contributions totaling $81,486.20, mostly in cash, that he concealed by falsely reporting to the Commission that he was funding his campaign with personal loans. Available information suggested the contributions were in fact made by Rivera and Alliegro, who conspired to secretly fund Sternad's primary campaign.
DISPOSITION: On September 10, 2013, the Commission found reason to believe that Sternad, the Sternad Committee, Rivera, the Rivera Committee, and Alliegro knowingly and willfully violated the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended (the Act), by accepting contributions in the name of another, accepting excessive individual contributions, accepting and failing to refund excessive currency contributions, and by filing inaccurate disclosures. On December 3, 2013, the Commission entered into a conciliation agreement with Sternad and the Sternad Committee, providing for the respondents to amend the relevant disclosure reports to reflect accurately the Sternad Committee's receipt of the direct and in-kind contributions in accordance with Commission guidance, and to cease and desist from further violations. The Commission agreed to waive a civil penalty based on the respondents' representations of their limited ability to pay. On June 1, 2017, the Commission found probable cause to believe that Rivera violated the Act by assisting in the making of contributions in the name of another to the Sternad Committee and authorized probable cause conciliation with Rivera. Attempts at conciliation were unsuccessful and the Commission authorized the filing of a civil suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, which was initiated on July 14, 2017, in FEC v. Rivera. After further considering the circumstances of the matter, on October 12, 2017, the Commission voted to take no further action with respect to Alliegro and the Rivera Committee. In the case of FEC v. Rivera, on February 23, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida granted the FEC's motion for summary judgment finding that David Rivera violated the Act's prohibition on contributions in the name of another and followed with a final judgment issuing a $456,000 civil penalty against Rivera. Rivera appealed the district court's decision and on July 1, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit vacated the district court's grant of summary judgment and subsequent final judgment and remanded for further proceedings. On January 6, 2025, the Commission together with Defendant Rivera filed a Joint Stipulation of Dismissal in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, and on January 7, 2025, the court issued an order closing the case and dismissing with prejudice. On April 9, 2025, the Commission voted to close the entire file in this matter as to all respondents.

MUR 8280

COMPLAINANT: Marleah Campbell, Trumbull County Republican Party
RESPONDENT: TCR Grassroots PAC and Regina McManus, in her official capacity as treasurer (TCR Grassroots PAC)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that TCR Grassroots PAC, a multicandidate political action committee, violated the Act and Commission regulations when it: 1) failed to timely register with the Commission as a political committee, 2) disseminated campaign literature and social media posts without disclaimers, 3) failed to file disclosure reports, and 4) apparently fraudulently misrepresented that it acted on behalf of the Trumbull County (Ohio) Republican Party.
DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the complaint.

MUR 8313

COMPLAINANT: Tiffany Muller, End Citizens United
RESPONDENTS: Sam Brown for Nevada and Chrissie Hastie, in her official capacity as treasurer (Sam Brown Committee); and Duty First Nevada PAC and Mike McCauley, in his official capacity as treasurer (Duty First PAC)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that Duty First PAC, an independent expenditure-only political committee, made and the Sam Brown Committee knowingly accepted a prohibited and unreported in-kind contribution in the form of video footage. Specifically, the complaint alleged that Duty First PAC paid a vendor to produce videos and placed the videos on the internet by a user with a name previously used by the vendor, and that the Sam Brown Committee subsequently used a portion of one of the videos in its own advertisement. Sam Brown was a 2024 candidate for U.S. Senate from Nevada.
DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the complaint.

MUR 8363

COMPLAINANT: Self-Reported
RESPONDENTS: Calspan Corporation; David Meier; and Peter D. Sauer
SUBJECT: This matter arose from a sua sponte submission and joint sua sponte submissions from Calspan, a federal government contractor and two of its executives: former Chief Executive Officer Peter Sauer and former Calspan President David Meier, who reported that they used Calspan funds to reimburse Sauer, Meier, and five other executives for $14,900 in federal contributions between 2019 and 2023 while Calspan held active federal government contracts.
DISPOSITION: The Commission entered into a conciliation agreement providing for the respondents to cease and desist from further violations of the Act and to pay a joint civil penalty of $25,000. Calspan also agreed to notify each of the recipient political committees that the contributions made in the names of Michael Blakeslee, Kristal Gillespie, David Meier, David Myren, Allen Rivers, Peter Sauer, and Gregory Swanson were illegal contributions made in the name of another, and that Calspan is waiving its right to a refund from the recipient committees.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

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

ADR 1198

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: Brittany for the People and Mark Hanna, in official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
SUBJECT: In the normal course of exercising its supervisory responsibilities, the Commission initiated proceedings to determine whether there was reason to believe the Committee failed to disclose $115,888.10 in additional disbursements on its 2022 October Quarterly Report.
DISPOSITION: The Committee agreed to pay a civil penalty of $500, to certify closure of its federal account, and to file a Termination Report with the Commission.

Litigation

CREW v. FEC (Case No. 22-0035) On May 14, Plaintiff filed a Motion for an Order Declaring that Defendant Has Failed to Conform to the Court's Judgment in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

McDonald v. FEC (Case No. 25-153) On May 13, Plaintiff filed a Memorandum Opposing the Motion to Dismiss in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

Public Disclosure

On May 5, the Commission's Office of the Inspector General released the Commission's Compliance with Improper Payments Reporting for Fiscal Year 2024.

Upcoming Commission meetings and hearings

May 20, 2025: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

Upcoming educational opportunities

May 20-21, 2025: The Commission is scheduled to host a webinar for candidate committees.

June 4, 2025: The Commission is scheduled to host a webinar for nonconnected committees.

June 25, 2025: The Commission is scheduled to host a FECFile webinar for candidate committees.

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

Upcoming reporting due dates

May 20: May Monthly Reports are due. For more information, see the 2025 Monthly Reporting schedule.

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.

Federal election results 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.

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.

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.

FEC - Federal Election Commission published this content on May 16, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on May 16, 2025 at 20:15 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at support@pubt.io