Federal Election Commission fines Georgia Republicans for illegal campaign coordinating

The Federal Election Commission has fined the Georgia Republican Party $14,500 for failing to report a contribution from a nonprofit during the 2021 U.S. Senate runoff elections.

The fine settled a complaint lodged by Common Cause Georgia and the Washington, D.C.-based Campaign Legal Center Action targeting an “in-kind” contribution the group True the Vote made to the Georgia GOP.

Federal law prohibits corporations from making contributions to federal candidates and political parties. But in this case, True the Vote and the state Republican Party collaborated on election-related activities, including challenging voter eligibility and monitoring drop boxes, and failed to report those activities as in-kind contributions.

The FEC initially dismissed the complaint, resulting in a federal lawsuit Common Cause Georgia filed in late 2022, with Campaign Legal Center Action as counsel.

After the court ruled in the plaintiffs’ favor and remanded the case back to the FEC, the commission reversed its decision and sided with Common Cause Georgia.

“We are pleased that the FEC is finally shining a light on this illegal coordination scheme by requiring the Georgia Republican Party to disclose the contributions it received from True the Vote,” said Aunna Dennis, executive director of Common Cause Georgia. “Georgia voters need reassurance that their right to vote will always be respected and that our federal institutions won’t neglect their duties to enforce the law. That is why we will continue to fight for accountability and transparency from the FEC.”

Capitol Beat emailed the Georgia Republican Party for comment. This story will be updated when their response is received.

Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock were elected to the U.S. Senate in those 2021 runoff elections, defeating incumbent Republicans David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, respectively.

This story was originally published August 6, 2024 at 11:45 AM.