{"id":181289,"date":"2018-06-28T14:52:50","date_gmt":"2018-06-28T19:52:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=181289"},"modified":"2018-06-21T14:11:35","modified_gmt":"2018-06-21T19:11:35","slug":"planned-parenthood-cited-campaign-violations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/planned-parenthood-cited-campaign-violations\/","title":{"rendered":"Uncovered: Planned Parenthood cited for multiple campaign donation violations"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Planned Parenthood, whose various political PACs and organizations spend millions of dollars pushing their abortion agenda down the throats of the American taxpayer, has been fined multiple times by the State and Federal Election Commissions for various violations. While Planned Parenthood\u00a0masquerades<\/a>\u00a0as a\u00a0healthcare organization<\/a>, the organization’s former president, Cecile Richards, once claimed<\/a> the abortion giant’s aim was to be the “largest kick butt political organization” — and with the help of their political arms that is what Planned Parenthood appears to be doing. But is the organization actually<\/em> playing by the rules?<\/p>\n

In a previous<\/a> Live Action News report, we documented how a Wisconsin\u00a0Planned Parenthood<\/a>\u00a0was fined by the Federal Elections Commission (FEC)\u00a0for failing to report contributions to Democratic candidates. Now, a more thorough review by Live Action News has uncovered additional reports from both state and federal agencies, as detailed below.<\/p>\n

Federal Elections Commission (FEC) cases<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Federal Elections Commission (FEC) uses multiple methods<\/a> to enforce compliance with election rules. Most of the results are made public by the FEC. Enforcement cases can come from audits, complaints, referrals or self-submissions, and anyone can submit<\/a> a complaint if he or she believes a violation of the law has occurred or is about to occur. Enforcement cases are primarily handled by the Office of General Counsel and are known as Matters Under Review<\/a> (MUR). Other programs designed to augment the Office of General Counsel’s enforcement role include the Alternative Dispute Resolution Program and the Administrative Fine Program.<\/p>\n

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) is\u00a0described<\/a> as “a program that encourages settlements outside the traditional enforcement process.” The Administrative Fine Program assesses civil money penalties for late or non-filed reports.<\/p>\n

Live Action News found two\u00a0Alternative Dispute Resolution cases, including the aforementioned one from Wisconsin as well as one Matter Under Review case,\u00a0in the FEC’s database within just the past few years. In addition, we located several state cases implying violations either against a Planned Parenthood organization or one of their representatives or staffers, a potential small sampling of what could be available were we to investigate every state agency.<\/p>\n

Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin Political Fund<\/strong><\/p>\n

As mentioned previously, in March of 2018<\/a>\u00a0by a vote<\/a>\u00a0of 4-0,\u00a0a negotiated settlement<\/a> was approved by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) with Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin Political Fund (referred to as respondent) after “[t]he Reports Analysis Division referred Respondent for failing to file 48-Hour Reports totaling $116,898.08 to support two independent expenditures disclosed on the 2016 October Quarterly Report.”<\/p>\n

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Letter: 2018 Federal Elections Commission (FEC) ADR against Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin<\/p><\/div>\n

According to a report<\/a> by Fox News:<\/p>\n

Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin’s failures to disclose its expenditures were discovered after discrepancies were found in the group’s October 2016 quarterly report. The group had marked $133,305.04 worth of independent expenditures on that report, which covered its finances from July 1 to September 30, 2016. However, $116,898.08 of the $133,305.04 worth of expenditures the group showed in the filing was never submitted in any previous 48-hour reports, a requirement for money put towards independent expenditures.<\/p>\n

The independent expenditures consisted of<\/a> $58,449.04 Planned Parenthood Wisconsin in support of Hillary Clinton and an additional $58,449.04 disbursed on the same day in support of former Sen. Feingold (D.), who failed to recapture the Senate seat from Sen. Ron Johnson (R.).<\/p>\n

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FEC ADR 845 Planned Parenthood Wisconsin<\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>\n

Under the terms of the agreement (ADR 845<\/a>), a\u00a0civil penalty<\/a>\u00a0in the amount of $5,850 was issued. In\u00a0addition<\/a>,\u00a0the Committee agreed to certify that a representative of the organization participated in an FEC conference, webinar, or other program developed in consultation with the FEC\u2019s Information Division.<\/p>\n

Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Inc. PAC, DBA Planned Parenthood Federal PAC<\/strong><\/p>\n

In January of 2018,<\/a>\u00a0by a vote<\/a> of five to zero, a negotiated settlement<\/a>\u00a0was approved<\/a> by the FEC with Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Inc. PAC, DBA Planned Parenthood Federal PAC and Tshombe Hubbard, Treasurer (referred to as respondents) after, “The Reports Analysis Division (RAD) referred Respondents for failing to disclose all financial activity on its 2016 12 Day Pre-General Report. On February 21, 2017, the Committee filed an Amended 2016 12 Day Pre-General Report disclosing an additional $51,756.51 in disbursements. ”<\/p>\n

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Letter: 2018 Federal Elections Commission (FEC) ADR against Planned Parenthood Action Fund<\/p><\/div>\n

Correspondence from Planned Parenthood<\/a> to the FEC indicates that Planned Parenthood also failed to report that they “included a $50,000 non-federal cash donation to a state-level independent expenditure committee.”<\/p>\n

Treasurers of political committees are required to report all financial activity, including all disbursements.<\/p>\n

Under the terms of the agreement<\/a>, (ADR 835<\/a>), a civil penalty<\/a> in the amount of $2,600.00 was issued.<\/p>\n

Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Inc., PAC and Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Inc. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Live Action News found several cases<\/a> where Planned Parenthood was listed as a respondent for a “Matter Under Review,” dating back to the 1980’s where the FEC notified the organization that they found no reason to believe (NTB) the allegations.<\/p>\n

However, in one out of three of the MUR cases within the past few years, the FEC did find violations.<\/p>\n