How to locate and download AFPAC’s FEC reports and contribution line‑items since 2020?
Executive summary
American Freedom PAC (AFPAC) federal reports and the line‑item contribution data since 2020 are public and accessible directly from the Federal Election Commission’s website by using AFPAC’s committee page and the FEC’s data tools; itemized contribution line‑items appear in the committee’s electronic filings (Schedule A/B and Form 3X) and can be exported as machine‑readable files or PDFs, with supplementary browsing tools available from third parties like ProPublica [1] [2] [3]. Practical retrieval requires three moves: find AFPAC’s FEC committee page (C00877753), use the Filings and Browse Data interfaces to isolate reports since 2020 and export the itemized receipts/disbursements files, and, when needed, consult guidance about schedules, thresholds and privacy rules that shape what appears in the downloadable records [1] [2] [4] [5].
1. Find the committee landing page and understand what’s published there
Begin at AFPAC’s official FEC committee overview page — the FEC lists the committee by name and ID and provides a Filings tab that aggregates the committee’s quarterly, monthly and semi‑annual reports and links to each report image and electronic filing (AFPAC is C00877753) [1]. The committee page is the authoritative index for all reports the PAC has filed with the FEC; the FEC warns that totals on the page are calculated from the filings and that certain rapid disclosure items (24‑ and 48‑hour independent‑expenditure reports) are handled separately and may not be included in summary totals [1].
2. Use the FEC “Browse Filings” and committee Filings tab to download PDFs or images
From the committee page (or from the FEC “Browse Filings” tool), filter the filings by date to show reports filed since 2020, then open individual filings to download the official PDF/image or the machine‑readable electronic filing. The FEC’s filings interface allows direct export of the filed reports and the individual report images that contain Schedule A (itemized receipts) and Schedule B (contributions out) line‑items, which are the primary source for per‑contributor data reported by the PAC [2] [4] [6].
3. Export itemized line‑items using the FEC data “Browse Data” and receipts endpoints
For bulk, machine‑readable exports of itemized contributions, use the FEC’s Browse Data pages — in particular the itemized contributions and receipts datasets — which contain the same line‑item detail extracted from filed reports and are downloadable in CSV/JSON formats for analysis (the Browse Data tool contains the itemized committee contributions file and related receipts/disbursements files) [7] [8]. When querying, specify the committee ID (C00877753) and the date range (from 01/01/2020 to present) to limit results to AFPAC since 2020; the FEC site lets users export results and save custom links [9] [7].
4. Know which schedules and form lines contain the data and legal limits of what will appear
Understand that contributions to and from PACs are reported on specific schedules and form lines — PAC receipts are itemized on Schedule A (supporting Line 11(c) or similar) and PAC contributions to candidates or committees appear on Schedule B and Form 3X lines (e.g., Line 23) — so searches for Schedule A/B entries or Form 3X transactions will surface those line‑items [4] [6]. Note also that the FEC’s public data respects reporting thresholds and privacy rules: committees must identify contributors who give more than $200 in the aggregate but may itemize more broadly; the FEC posts filings within 48 hours of receipt [5].
5. Use third‑party tools and institutional guides as shortcuts, and be mindful of limitations
ProPublica’s FEC Itemizer is a convenient alternative for browsing electronic filings and individual contributions if one prefers an interface tailored for investigative review, and academic guides (e.g., Northwestern) provide how‑to tips for extracting and interpreting campaign finance datasets [3] [10]. These secondary tools draw from the same FEC filings but may present pre‑processed outputs; researchers should cross‑check against the primary FEC filing images for authoritative line‑item text and to resolve variations caused by free‑text fields or inconsistent filer labeling that the FEC cautions can create multiple summaries for the same category [1] [2].
6. Practical checklist and common pitfalls
In practice: open AFPAC’s committee page (C00877753) and go to Filings to view and download report PDFs/images [1]; use Browse Filings with date filters to find reports from 2020 onward and download electronic filings [2]; for bulk line‑items, query the Browse Data receipts/contributions endpoints by committee ID and date range and export CSV/JSON [7] [8]; and cross‑reference Schedule A/B and Form 3X line numbers to locate itemized receipts and contribution recipients in each filing [4] [6]. Be aware that rapid independent‑expenditure notices are treated distinctively and that free‑text reporting can cause categorization inconsistencies requiring manual review [1].