FEC Documents

[Karellen]

By US law, all documentation regarding a campaign for a federal office is maintained and made publically available on their website. Wu has two entries, one for her and one for her campaign, Brianna Wu for Congress.

As of right now, she filled the official paperwork for herself back in December. Frank filled out the paperwork for the campaign in February (more on that later). Frank is the treasurer and head honcho of the campaign.

Brianna made a boo-boo though, and forgot to read the fine print that says you must file your campaign paperwork 10 days after you declare your candidacy; she waited two months for Frank to do it for her. Now they have to answer why they dun goofed, and that response will be filed on the website.

Additionally, every quarter they must publish their financials (money raised, how it was spent, etc). If not, they face fine and penalties and potential audits by the Fed.

Just know that this is something that she can't scream "GAMERGATE HACKED MY CAMPAIGN AND POSTED DOX REEEEEE". This is all public information that every campaign must post on FEC.gov, and it is made available.

Edit 1: Frank posted the response. Nothing of note, just a "tee-her we didn't know ".

I've attached all documents that have been filed thus far.

 

[AnOminous]

By US law, all documentation regarding a campaign for a federal office is maintained and made publically available on their website. Wu has two entries, one for her and one for her campaign, Brianna Wu for Congress.

As of right now, she filled the official paperwork for herself back in December. Frank filled out the paperwork for the campaign in February (more on that later). Frank is the treasurer and head honcho of the campaign.

Brianna made a boo-boo though, and forgot to read the fine print that says you must file your campaign paperwork 10 days after you declare your candidacy; she waited two months for Frank to do it for her. Now they have to answer why they dun goofed, and that response will be filed on the website.

Additionally, every quarter they must publish their financials (money raised, how it was spent, etc). If not, they face fine and penalties and potential audits by the Fed.

Just know that this is something that she can't scream "GAMERGATE HACKED MY CAMPAIGN AND POSTED DOX REEEEEE". This is all public information that every campaign must post on FEC.gov, and it is made available.

I've attached all documents that have been filed thus far.

Great catch. My main hope for the FEC stuff was that anyone who makes a $200 donation is not only a gigantic lolcow but would have to dox themselves to do so.

I hadn't considered that John would be so fucking dumb he'd actually fuck himself over longer than a year prior to the actual election. Great job John.

I just hope his campaign isn't shut down as a disastrous failure before he even gets any of his supporters to dox themselves for our amusement.

 

[Null]

Fantastic. Keep an eye on it please.

 

[Karellen]

Great catch. My main hope for the FEC stuff was that anyone who makes a $200 donation is not only a gigantic lolcow but would have to dox themselves to do so.

I hadn't considered that John would be so fucking dumb he'd actually fuck himself over longer than a year prior to the actual election. Great job John.

I just hope his campaign isn't shut down as a disastrous failure before he even gets any of his supporters to dox themselves for our amusement

I was more referring to the FEC documents that Wu has to file on her own (her response to the audit, etc.). But that is a good call. Looking at other people's FEC documents, they show the full address of each donor.

 

[Ravenor]

Can I ask what's the penalties that can come from this late filing?

 

[Karellen]

It depends on the filing and how close to the election it is. There's a calculator here that shows what a potential fine could look like.

For this late filing, I'm guessing it could lead to an audit, but as others have said in the main thread, nothing will likely come of it. However this means the Wus will be given less leniency on future delays/late filings, and the FEC can increase the fines.

 

[stets]

Can I ask what's the penalties that can come from this late filing?

This is almost as minor as it can get in terms of an FEC violation, so almost certainly no penalty as @nets_awesome pointed out.

This type of thing absolutely will not fly when it comes to financial reporting, however. If they're late on those and someone files a complaint (which someone undoubtedly will with how much attention she brings herself) then you're into the realm of at least a minor financial penalty.

The real fun will start when Kiwi's can start poreing all over her expenses. A campaign fund is not the same thing as Patreon Bux, and many people will be looking for improper expenses and evidence of fund diversion, self-dealing, and inurement. Frankly I can't wait until people start going through literally every penny of campaign dollars she spends.

There's a loads of potential fun to be had with FEC reports. Other election related reporting can be even more exciting, however.

 

[AnOminous]

It depends on the filing and how close to the election it is. There's a calculator here that shows what a potential fine could look like.

For this late filing, I'm guessing it could lead to an audit, but as others have said in the main thread, nothing will likely come of it. However this means the Wus will be given less leniency on future delays/late filings, and the FEC can increase the fines.

They'll probably be red flagged for extra scrutiny since they doubtless managed to fuck up earlier in the election cycle than anyone else, at a time when the FEC is anything but overworked.

 

[NQ 952]

Their excuse is "inexperience" - inexperience with what? It's a simple form. Do you not know how to use a pen?

John himself admits in this letter that he has zero political experience, which is a bad thing for running for such a high local office.

Really should've started at the state level and filled a empty seat or two there first.

 

[AngeloTheWizard]

This makes great ammo. "Brianna Wu takes two months to file the simplest financial paperwork. Do you trust her with your tax dollars? Vote Stephen Lynch."

 

[HG 400]

If Brianna Wu wins I'll fly to America and physically force @Techpriest to finally eat that fucking maga hat.

 

[Tookie]

Can I ask what's the penalties that can come from this late filing?

Theoretically, there are some minor penalties. The FEC doesn't really bother pursuing these kinds of cases unless you are actually raising some money. In cases where it is a whackjob tilting at windmills (which is actually most candidates by volume on file with the FEC), they will get a sternly worded form letter at most since it isn't worth wasting time pursuing it.

 

[AnOminous]

Theoretically, there are some minor penalties. The FEC doesn't really bother pursuing these kinds of cases unless you are actually raising some money. In cases where it is a whackjob tilting at windmills (which is actually most candidates by volume on file with the FEC), they will get a sternly worded form letter at most since it isn't worth wasting time pursuing it.

There's a calculator here for these fines, but I can't be bothered to dick around with the details.

http://www.fec.gov/af/afcalc_20170101.shtml

The difference here is Frank actually has an income, so the FEC can collect from his punk ass, as he was the stupid motherfucker who signed on for John's phony campaign.

 

[stets]

The difference here is Frank actually has an income, so the FEC can collect from his punk ass, as he was the stupid motherfucker who signed on for John's phony campaign.

There are two great reasons why campaigns almost always get independent campaign treasurers - 1) it makes the campaign look like a legitimate organization, and 2) if the treasurer screws up, the candidate can blame the treasure. Generally, it's the morons, lazy people, and fly by night scam campaigns have a campaign organized where they or a family member serves as the campaign treasurer.

I can think of about 8 or 9 campaigns off the top of my head that had a treasurer that either was the candidate or related to the candidate. One was legitimate, around half were crazy gadflys, and the rest were scammy.