What specific FEC findings and documents detail the $18,000 fine against Turning Point Action?
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Executive summary
The $18,000 civil penalty against Turning Point Action is documented in FEC enforcement materials and in the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) complaint and press release; the commission’s public file shows the fine stemmed from a finding that Turning Point Action failed to disclose $33,795 in reportable contributions tied to its 2020 independent expenditures, and the matter was resolved by a signed conciliation agreement and accompanying Factual and Legal Analysis in MUR 7892 (CREW) [1] [2] [3] [4].
1. The original complaint that launched the enforcement action
CREW filed a formal FEC complaint in March 2021 accusing Turning Point Action of failing to disclose donors while spending $1,428,161 on independent expenditures between August 20 and December 31, 2020, and asserting that the group did not correct missing donor information after FEC notifications — a central factual allegation that set the enforcement process in motion [4].
2. What the FEC’s public docket and documents show about the finding
The FEC’s public enforcement materials for the matter — including the agency’s Factual and Legal Analysis and the case file for MUR 7892 — record that commissioners ultimately agreed there was reason to believe Turning Point Action failed to disclose $33,795 in reportable contributions from donors who gave more than $200, which formed the factual basis for imposing the $18,000 civil penalty resolved in a conciliation agreement [3] [1] [2].
3. The conciliation agreement and civil penalty disposition
According to reporting that quotes CREW and the FEC filings, Turning Point Action entered into a signed conciliation agreement in which the commission ordered payment of an $18,000 civil penalty (to be paid within 30 days of the agreement’s date); the conciliation agreement and the Factual and Legal Analysis are the formal FEC documents that memorialize the penalty and the commission’s rationale [2] [3] [1].
4. How the FEC commissioners and staff framed the scope of the violation
FEC materials and CREW’s press summary show a split in emphasis: the agency’s Office of General Counsel had recommended a broader finding that would have included additional undisclosed donations tied to roughly $1.4 million in independent expenditures, but the commissioners voted to find reason to believe only with respect to the $33,795 figure, limiting the enforcement to that subset and resulting in the relatively modest $18,000 penalty [1] [2] [3].
5. Where to find the underlying FEC documents and limitations of public reporting
The primary official records are the MUR 7892 file on FEC.gov — notably the Factual and Legal Analysis and the conciliation agreement referenced in the agency’s public updates — and CREW’s original complaint PDF, which is openly available and details the alleged $1.4 million in independent expenditures and the missing donor disclosures; reporting from CREW and Law&Crime synthesizes the sequence and the dollar figures but the definitive legal texts are the FEC’s MUR documents [3] [4] [1] [2]. If a reader requires the exact language of the conciliation agreement or the commissioners’ separate statements of reasons, those specific documents are contained in the FEC enforcement docket for MUR 7892 and in the FEC’s “Compliance Cases Made Public” and completed-enforcement updates [5] [6] [7] [3].
6. Competing narratives and the practical takeaway
CREW framed the outcome as a “landmark win” against dark-money concealment even as the FEC’s final action was narrower than the watchdog sought — CREW emphasizes the $1.4 million spending and broader alleged nondisclosure, while the FEC’s documents and commissioners limited the legal finding to $33,795 and imposed an $18,000 penalty; public-interest groups portray the penalty as a deterrent, whereas the restrained scope recorded in the FEC’s Factual and Legal Analysis suggests institutional caution and legal limits on proving disclosure violations beyond that identified sum [4] [1] [3] [2].