Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has been fined $12,000 for alleged illegal PAC fundraising, according to the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
Specifically, Ms. Greene allegedly flouted the rules when she reposted an advertisement in which she appeared on her official Greene for Congress social media accounts.
The video ad featured Ms. Greene talking about the 2021 Senate runoff elections in her home state of Georgia, which culminated in the election of Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, both Democrats.
The narrator in the ad called on voters to “help save America and stop socialism. Make a contribution today to Stop Socialism Now PAC, because if Democrats win in Georgia, it’s all over for America.”
$5,000 Limit
Ms. Greene then shared Stop Socialism Now’s ad—which includes requests for contributions—on her official Facebook page and shared it on X. This act, according to the FEC, broke the rules.“The Act prohibits federal candidates and officeholders, their agents, and entities directly or indirectly established, financed, maintained, or controlled by or acting on behalf of federal candidates and officeholders, from soliciting funds in connection with a federal election” unless the funds are subject to the limitations of the Act, which cap contributions to non-authorized, non-party committees to $5,000 in any calendar year, per the conciliation agreement.
However, the Stop Socialism NOW PAC is an entity that can accept unlimited donations, which the FEC said made Ms. Greene’s engagement in the ad and its promotion run afoul of the law.
Ms. Greene said she was given insufficient legal advice and didn’t mean to violate the Act and has pledged not to do so again, per the agreement.
The $12,000 civil penalty was due within 30 days of the conciliation agreement’s effective date of Dec. 7, 2023.
Jan Baran, a Republican campaign finance lawyer, told ProPublica he thinks the ad is in line with FEC rules because the message requesting donations doesn’t flash on screen at the same time as Ms. Greene is featured. He also said that Ms. Greene doesn’t appear on the super PAC’s online donations page.
“The ad and Ms. Greene seem in compliance since there is no solicitation by Ms. Greene and no evidence direct or indirect that impermissible funds are being solicited by using Ms. Greene’s name or likeness,” Mr. Baran told the publication in an email.
Other experts said that if the ad had specified a $5,000 donation limit, Ms. Greene would have been in the clear.
“My advice would be to be very clear that a candidate is not soliciting beyond those limits,” William Minor, a campaign finance lawyer at the firm DLA Piper, told ProPublica.
This advice seems in line with the FEC’s detailed guidelines for fundraising by federal officeholders for other candidates and committees.
“For example, if a federal officeholder were to sign a solicitation letter on behalf of a gubernatorial candidate, that solicitation would have to be limited to only federally permissible funds (i.e., no more than $2,700 per individual, per election, and no more than $5,000 per election from multicandidate parties and PACs),” the FEC states.
The guidelines further state that “if the publicity does not contain a solicitation or solicits only federally permissible funds, then the federal candidate or officeholder (or agent of either) is free to consent to the use of his or her name or likeness in any manner for the nonfederal fundraiser.”
Since her election to Congress in 2020, Ms. Greene has become a prominent figure in politics, known for her ardent support of former President Donald Trump and his America First agenda, while being a fiery critic of President Joe Biden and his policies.
