Where can I find official FEC or OpenSecrets data on AIPAC PAC contributions by member of Congress?

1. What the claim actually asks and the straight answer reporters use

The user’s question asks for official, member‑by‑member contribution data from AIPAC’s PAC; the direct, primary source for such records is the Federal Election Commission’s searchable public database, which contains committee filings and transaction‑level reports that list contributions to candidates and committees. Journalistic and watchdog analyses repeatedly point readers to the FEC’s data portal at fec.gov/data where one can search by committee name or the committee ID for AIPAC’s PAC, and those same raw FEC filings are the documents cited by outlets reporting totals for the 2024 cycle ^{[2] [4]}. OpenSecrets, run by the Center for Responsive Politics, compiles FEC records and provides curated pages (summary, recipients) that show per‑member totals, top recipients, and downloadable tables for user convenience ^{[3] [5]}.

2. How the FEC source is described by multiple analyses and what you’ll find there

Reporting that cites primary filings shows the FEC provides transaction‑level disclosure: itemized contribution receipts, recipient candidate names, dates, and amounts as reported by a PAC. Truthout and other outlets specifically cite FEC docquery filings when listing AIPAC donations in late 2023 and 2024, and they instruct users to use the FEC’s “Search or browse data” feature to filter by committee or candidate to retrieve official records ^{[2] [4]}. The FEC records are the legal, primary documentation and are the basis for any secondary compilations; downloading CSVs or viewing individual committee pages yields the authoritative line‑by‑line entries that show exactly which member of Congress received each contribution.

3. How OpenSecrets repackages that FEC data and what extra context it adds

OpenSecrets republishes and aggregates FEC data into profiles and recipient lists that are easier for the public to parse: the AIPAC profile/summary and recipients pages (committee id D000046963) show aggregate totals, recipient rankings, industry breakdowns and historical trends, and offer search tools like “Look Up a Politician” or “Look Up a Donor” for cross‑referencing contributions to specific members of Congress between 1990 and 2024 ^{[3] [6]}. Multiple analyses cite OpenSecrets pages when producing charts and lists of pro‑Israel group recipients; OpenSecrets is treated as a reliable secondary source because it sources FEC filings directly, but its pages are curated and may include categorization choices that differ from raw FEC exports ^{[5] [7]}.

4. Why reported totals differ across outlets and what to watch for in the data

Different outlets report different totals for AIPAC‑linked spending because they combine distinct legal entities and timeframes: some stories add amounts from AIPAC’s PAC plus separate Super PACs and outside groups, while others cite just the PAC’s direct candidate contributions; the Sludge and Common Dreams pieces note combined figures approaching over $100 million in 2024 while other summaries list the PAC’s direct programmatic totals such as $44.8 million or campaign gifts of $42 million, depending on cutoffs and whether super PAC disbursements are included ^{[1] [8] [9]}. When using FEC or OpenSecrets, confirm whether totals are filtered to “candidate contributions” versus “independent expenditures” or aggregated across committees to avoid conflating different disclosure categories ^{[2] [4]}.

5. Practical steps, caveats, and how agendas shape summaries you’ll encounter

To produce a per‑member list yourself, pull the FEC committee page for AIPAC’s PAC (committee ID noted in reporting) and download the contributions CSV, or use OpenSecrets’ recipients table for a prebuilt export; both approaches let you sort by member, chamber, election cycle, and amount. Be aware that advocacy outlets and watchdogs sometimes present combined figures to emphasize political influence, which can reflect an agenda to highlight scale; other outlets may isolate legally reportable candidate contributions to make narrower comparisons—both are factually grounded but emphasize different slices of the data, so cross‑check the FEC filing dates and OpenSecrets’ scope when reconciling totals ^{[2] [3] [4]}.