"Advisory Opinion 2011-02 (Brown) – The Commission discussed three alternative draft advisory opinions and approved an opinion that concluded that Senator Brown and the Scott Brown for U.S. Senate Committee (the Committee) may engage in, and use campaign funds to pay for, a variety of activities related to the upcoming publication and promotion of Senator Brown’s book, including: (1) using campaign funds to purchase copies of the book from the book's publisher at the fair market price, provided that the publisher donates to charity Senator Brown's royalties from sales of the book to the Committee; (2) posting a de minimis amount of material promoting the book to the Committee's website and social media sites; and (3) permitting Senator Brown to personally reimburse the Committee for the fair market value of the rental of the Committee’s email and mailing lists. The Commission could not, however, reach consensus on a response to questions concerning whether (1) Senator Brown may host fundraising events in cities where the publisher pays his travel costs to promote the book, and (2) the Committee may collect email addresses of people who attend the Senator's book signing and promotional events for the purpose of soliciting contributions in the future."
FEC APPROVES TWO ADVISORY OPINIONS AND DETERMINES THE AMOUNT OF REPAYMENT OF PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY MATCHING FUNDS
FEC:
