A conciliation agreement that was signed last month and went public this week has now formally confirmed that controversial Georgia Republican House Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene has been slammed with a federal fine to the tune of $12,000 by the Federal Election Commission in connection to her illegal fundraising for the Stop Socialism Now PAC in 2020.
Greene personally made an appearance in an ad for the super PAC that called on supporters to donate in an effort to finance the 2021 Georgia runoff elections. The congresswoman shared the clip of the Stop Socialism Now advertisement to her Facebook and X (formerly known as Twitter) accounts.
In the video ad, Rep. Greene says:
Imagine. Biden and Harris in the White House. Pelosi is Speaker. And Schumer runs the Senate. All because Georgia lost our two Senate runoff seats to Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock… Stop Socialism Now PAC will stop Ossoff and Warnock from stealing our Senate seats. It’s time to fight back now, before it’s too late.”
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The ad video eventually cuts to a text screen with a link that directs viewers to the donations page. The link encourages supporters to “[r]ush [their] emergency donation of $5,000, $2,500, $1,000, $500, $100, $50, or even as little as $10 right away,” further stating that “[w]e must re-elect Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue and KEEP GEORGIA RED!”
Greene ran into trouble with the ad when the D.C. watchdog group, Common Cause, caught wind of the stunt and filed a complaint in May 2021. Common Cause — which works to “ensure that every vote counts, that every eligible voter has an equal say, that our elections represent the will of the people, and that our government is of, by, and for the people,” according to their website — stated that the congresswoman was in violation of the “soft money” ban included in the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) of 1971 for “soliciting unlimited contributions.”
The watchdog group noted that, according to federal campaign finance law, federal candidates and officeholders are not permitted to “solicit… funds in connection with an election for Federal office… unless the funds are subject to the limitations, prohibitions, and reporting requirements” of the FECA. Citing the federal laws, Common Cause noted that Greene was only allowed to request up to $5,000 from an individual donor on behalf of the super PAC and was banned from soliciting corporate or union funds.
A letter from FEC attorney Kimberly D. Hart confirms that the Republican congresswoman has a strict 30-day deadline to pay the 5-figure fine.
Featured image via Flickr/Gage Skidmore, under Creative Commons license 2.0
