Perkinscoie Suite 600 O +1,202,656.6211 Aivceivb^.! Washington, DC 20005-3960 Perkinscoie,Com • •;€ 11 It F Mm PH K- 3
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700 13th street, NW O +1.202.656.6200 peRKiNscoie Suite 600 O +1,202,656.6211 AivCEIVb^.! Washington, DC 20005-3960 perkinscoie,com • •;€ 11 it f mm PH k- 3 August 15, 2016 Marc Erilc Elias [email protected] D, +1.202.434.1609 F, +1.202.654.9126 Jeff S. Jordan, Esq. Assistant General Counsel Federal Election Commission Complaints Examination & Legal Administration 999 E Street NW r>.l r.-3 Washington, DC 20463 m i Re: MUR 7066 •?rn cry .4 i.o .: -n O. Dear Mr. Jordan: •jo 'im ooo We submit this letter as counsel on behalf of Hillary for America ("HPA"), th^rmcipal.io. 4 campaign committee of Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton, a candidate for Ui^Presiden^^d. P Jose H. Villarreal, in his official capacity as treasurer (collectively, "Respondents") in re^n'se to a complaint received by the Federal Election Commission (the "FEC" or "Commission") in MUR 7066 (the "Complaint"). The Complaint alleges that HFA accepted excessive contributions from 70 different individuals;. However, the Complaint ignores the fact that a candidate may receive contributions not simply for the primary election, but for the general election as well. With respect to each of these 70 individuals, the allegation of an excessive contribution is incorrect. The Commission should immediately find no reason to believe a violation occurred, dismiss the Corhplaint and close the file. Individual contributions to a candidate and the candidate's authorized political committee are limited under federal law to $2,700per election. 52 U.S.C. § 30116(a)(1)(A); Federal Election Comm'n, Price Index Adjustments for Contribution and Expenditure Limitations and Lobbyist Bundling Disclosure Threshold, 80 Fed. Reg. 5750, 5752 (Feb. 3, 2015), available at http://www.fec.gOv/law/cfr/ej_compilation/2015/notice2015-01.pdf. These limits "apply separately with respect to each election ... except that all elections held in a calendar year for the office of President of the United States (except a general election for that office) shall be considered to be one election." 11 C.F.R. § 110.1(j)(l). Accordingly, HFA was permitted to accept $2,700 from an individual designated for the primary election and an additional $2,700 from an individual designated for the general election, or a total of $5,400 per election cycle. Federal regulations encourage contributors "to designate their contributions in writing for particular elections." Id. § 110.1(b)(2); see also id. § 110.1(b)(4). If a contribution was not previously designated to an election, or exceeds the limits with respect to an election to which it Jeff S. Jordan August 15, 2016 Page 2 was designated, a campaign may request redesignation or reattribution of the contribution, and refund the contribution within sixty days of receipt if none is obtained. See id § 103.3(b)(3). The Complaint presents no deviation from these requirements. To the contrary, HFA has adopted and implemented procedures to review and screen campaign contributions to ensure compliance with the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended, and its accompanying regulations, including all contribution limits therein. A review of the contributions at issue demonstrates that this process worked in accordance with Commission rules: • For 64 of the 70 identified individuals, the data on the public record and available to the complainant show no violation of the limits. With respect to these individuals, neither HFA's reports nor the Complaint—^which was derived entirely from those reports— presented any "facts which describe a violation of a statute or regulation over which the Commission has jurisdiction." 11 C.F.R. § 111.4(d)(3). In each case, the Complaint 5 makes the same mistake: it assumes that an individual who gave more than $2,700 during s the election cycle must have committed a violation, when in fact that same individual could have given for both the primary and general election.' • For two of the identified .indiyiduals-^Nie^>ie; Avant artd Vic.fci L. Reyndlds —HFA . timely refunded^CGntnbu.tions, which could lipt be pedesignated or reillpcated.^ I n these cases, HFA simply followed the procedures prescribed in the regulations, see 11 C.F.R. § 103.3(b)(3), and again the Complaint presents no facts to describe a violation. !»• Two more of the identified individuals—Wahideh Namazie Khaleeli and Richard Squire—gave lawfully to a joint fundraising committee in which HFA participated, and their contributions were reallocated as prescribed by the joint fundraising rules because . they had already given the maximum permissible contribution to HFA. See 11 C.F.R. § 102.17(c)(6)(i). HFA is a participant in Hillary Victory Fund ("HVF"), a joint fundraising conimittee organized pursuant to 11 C.F.R. § 102.17(b)(1). HVF may receive contributions up to its participants' combined limits. See id. § 102.17(c)(5). If the distribution according to this formula results in an excessive contribution for a particular participant, that contribution may be reallocated based upon the remaining participants' proportionate shares under the allocation formula. Id. § 102.17(c)(6)(i). When HVF transferred the contributions from Wahideh Namazie IGialeeli and Richard Squire, duplicate records were created in HFA's contribution tracking software. As a result, HFA was not immediately aware that their contributions needed to be reallocated to other participants of HVF. However, HFA discovered that these donors' contributions needed to be reallocated and notified HVF, which reallocated those donor's contributions to See Exhibit A. ^ See Exhibit B. firkins Jeff S. Jordan August 15, 2016 Page 3 other participants according to 11 C.F.R. § 102.17(c)(6)(i). HVF deducted the amount of •;th.0se;cpntributiph^^ to HFA to ensure HFA did not receive any exce-ssive feontributidh^ frdm these donors.^ • For the last two individuals—Jacintha Knapp and Michele Maher—incorrect election designations were initially reported and have subsequently been corrected. HFA . erroneously reported a $2,200 received from Ms. Knapp on March 19,2016 as made in its entirety for the primary election. HFA corrected the eledtioir designatipp on ltSsilunie 2016 monthly report.'* HFA also erroneously reported a $2,7.00 e.6nlrib.utioh: reGei.y.ed-. from Ms. Maher on February 23,2016, as made for the primary election. HFA has filed an amended report listing the correct election.^ Thus, the Complaint alleges no facts which describe a violation of the Act's contribution limits. See 11 C.F.R. § 111.4(d)(3). Premised on a mistake of law, the Complaint should be dismissed and the matter closed. For the foregoing reasons, we respectfully request that the Commission find no reason to believe that Respondents violated the Act and dismiss the matter immediately. Very truly yours. Marc E. Elias Rachel L. Jacobs ^ See Exhibit C. The reallocation of Wahideh Namazie Khaleeli's contribution took place on July 31,2016 and thus, documentation of this reallocation is being reported on HFA's July monthly report. That report is due on August 20, 2016. ^ See Exhibit D. ^ See Exhibit E. IW.in.u'.niel.l.P 4 4 B EXHIBIT A Individuals whose reported contributions show no violation of the limits: 1. Jorge Acosta 23. Lauren Fite 45. Karen Magee 2. Alessandra Alarcon 24. Seth Freeman 46. Tree Mangen 3. Cynthia Ambres M.D. 25. Norman Gabay 47. David Messinger 4. Jacqueline Alberta Avant 26. Stephen Geller 48. Elon Musk 5. Brendan Bakir 27. Bob Gersh 49. Mario Navarro 6. Kim Bergman 28. Carol Goldsmith 50. Tianxin Nie 7. Hillary Bibicoff 29. Julie C. Goldsmith 51. Norman Oberstein 8. Keith Brackpool 30. Sam Gores 52. Clark Parker 9. Christia Campbell 31. Ranjan Goswami 53. Andrew Raines 10. Pamela Cel'enza 32. Christine Griffiths 54. Joyce B. Rey 11. Susanna Chung Forest 33. Martha Hendersen 55. Brian Rosenstein 12. Christina Costantini 34. Priscilla Hoe 56. Leslie Scofield 13. Tom Creed 35. Fred Huebscher 57. Barbara Streisand 14. Meredith Darrow 36. Suzan Hughes 58. Tammy Tucker 15. Clar Dern 37. Jihee Huh 59. Jon F. Vein 16. Fran Diamond 38. Esther Hutchison 60. Kristen Walker 17. Daniel Dinh 39. Phillip Keene 61. Kara Weber 18. Tracy Dinunzio 40. Tim Kiplin 62. Roger Weinhouse 19. Marjorie Drucker 41. Ron Laffitte 63. Jamie Wolf 20. James Duff 42. Katherine Lain 64. Peg Yorkin 21. David Ellis 43. Mark Litvack 22. Austin Fite 44. Pamela Litvack 4 JOBGE ACOSTA Full Name (Last. First. Middle Initial) Transaction ID : C16S2f 7f J.orge Acosta Date of Receipt Mailirig Address 3409 Broadway 2015 GIty: State. ;Zlp.:ODd,C| Hunljngidn'.'Park CA 9625Sh6444. FEC ID number of contrfbuting federal political committee. IsE Amount of Each Receipt this Period Name .of Eriipl^er :'Occu|$iiil;w. >• III III rv." •t.'J'U- 1 100.00 Self-Empioyed Real Estate Investor c RscelpfFoni 20t6 Election Cyde-to-Oate T |x] Memo Item Primary [7] General J*«e— • Hillary Victory Fund 0 Other (specify) T 2783.00 j Full Name (Last, Flret. twiddle Initial) Transaction ID : C14426S7 Jorge Acosta Date of Receipl Mailing Address 3406 Broadway IS3*m' City State Zip Coda Huntington Pork CA 90355-0444 FEC ID nunibar of contributing federal political committee. Amount of Eacli Receipt this Period Name of Bfiplo^ - Occupation Seir-Empldi^d ' Real Estble Invaslor S.OO (IlK'eipl^For 20'1.6. ~ •0ecMbn;eyplo-lO7.D'nlo., 3 .Oth'or:'(speclfyl y 2783.00 .«>.•*. ,.1-jrt II II CI I Full Name (Laat, First, Middle Initial) Transecllon ID ;|C1442e70 ;Joirgg Acosta Data of Receipt Maliing Address 3409 Broadway fS-WI /. fEW> i iq,. I i 25 (r i 2015 .-.Cily St?!?' zipeodo- Hlinl|riol6n;Porfc .. CA 90255-6444 FEC ID number of contrilHjting federal porrtical committee.