29. Federal Election Commission · Notable
Direct DOJ to prosecute only clear violations of FECA
Printed page 863 29. Federal Election Commission
“The President must ensure that the DOJ, just like the FEC, is directed to only prosecute clear violations of FECA. The department must not construe ambiguous provisions against the public instead of the government or apply FECA in a way that infringes on protected First Amendment activity.”
What has happened
- Not started
No presidential or Attorney General direction restraining FECA prosecutions was found. The record runs the other way: Executive Order 14248 (2025-03-25) tells the Attorney General to prioritize enforcement of FECA's foreign-national contribution ban (52 U.S.C. 30121), and the memorandum of 2025-04-24 directs an investigation of straw-donor and foreign contributions through online fundraising platforms and orders the Attorney General to take all appropriate actions to enforce the law. Justice Manual 9-85.210, the internal check that required consultation with the Public Integrity Section before any campaign-finance investigative step or charge, is marked suspended while Department leadership revises it ([June 2025]).
- Executive Order 14248 — Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections (sec. 8 directs the Attorney General to prioritize enforcement of 52 U.S.C. 30121)
- Presidential Memorandum — Investigation into Unlawful "Straw Donor" and Foreign Contributions in American Elections
- Justice Manual 9-85.210 — Violations of Campaign Financing Laws: "The Consultation Requirement is suspended while revisions are ongoing. [June 2025]"
Research log
What was searched, and what didn’t count as evidence
Research notes
- Leveled with #2221, #2222 and #2223, which sit on the same two printed pages and turn on the
same absent instrument — a presidential direction to DOJ about how FECA is charged. The cluster
negative search is in
docs/research/ch-29.md. - The Justice Manual stamps the suspension of 9-85.210 “[June 2025]” with no day; the Evidence is dated 2025-06-01 for that reason and the note quotes the stamp. The page carries no document-level “Updated” date.
- DOJ’s operative charging guidance for election offenses is still the Election Crimes Branch monograph Federal Prosecution of Election Offenses, 8th edition, which predates the window (https://www.justice.gov/criminal/criminal-pin/election-crimes-branch, read 2026-09-01).
- Action
- restrict
- Object
- DOJ criminal enforcement of the Federal Election Campaign Act
- ID
- 2220