1 

2652 GROUP LLC

PO BOX 26141

ALEXANDRIA, VA 22313

March 31, 2023 

Roy Q. Luckett 

Acting Assistant General Counsel 

Complaints Examination & Legal Administration

Federal Election Commission

1050 First Street NE 

Washington DC 20463 

VIA E-MAIL: cela@fec.gov

Re: MUR 8091; Response of Beth Harwell

I write on behalf of Beth Harwell 

 in response to the complaint filed by the Campaign 

Legal Center in Matter Under Review 8091. For the reasons set forth herein, the Commission 

should find no reason to believe that Respondents have violated the Federal Election Campaign 

Act, as amended (“FECA”), and accordingly should dismiss the complaint. 

The Complaint alleges that Respondent Beth Harwell violated the “soft money” prohibition 

based on contributions made by state-level political committees to Government of the People 

(“GOTP”), an independent expenditure-only political committee registered with the FEC. She did 

not. 

Background

Mrs. Harwell represented the 56th district in the Tennessee House of Representatives from 

January 10, 1989, until January 8, 2019, serving as Speaker of the House from 2011-2019. She 

also served as chair of the Tennessee Republican Party from 2001-2004. She sought the 

Republican nomination for Governor in 2018. 

During her time as an officeholder and candidate for state office in Tennessee, and well 

before her candidacy for U.S. House, she established several state-level political committees. Two 

of these Committees are the subject of this complaint.

 The Beth Harwell Committee at issue in this complaint was established as a Tennessee 

House single-candidate committee on January 11, 2017, for the 2018 election cycle. Mrs. 

Harwell’s previous Tennessee House campaign committee had transferred its remaining funds to 

her gubernatorial campaign committee. The current Beth Harwell Committee raised funds used 

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principally to support her political undertakings as the leader of her party’s state house caucus. 

Mrs. Harwell was not a candidate for House in the 2018 election. At the end of 2018, the Beth 

Harwell Committee had a balance of $38,677.29. In subsequent years, the committee’s only 

receipts were from interest. The Committees only subsequent expenditures other than bank fees 

were eight contributions to candidates for state and local office. Its most recent contribution of 

$35,000 to GOTP on July 22, 2022, is the subject of this complaint. 

Mrs. Harwell established a state multi-candidate committee, or PAC, on September 2, 

2006. The PAC’s name is Tennesseans for Good State Government (“TGSG”). Complainant and 

GOTP both refer to it as Harwell PAC.1 Although the electronic records of the Tennessee Registry 

of Election Finance (“TREF”) shows Ann-Riley Caldwell as treasurer and lists no other officers,

2

the most recent paper filing shows Troy Brewer as treasurer and Beth Harwell as President.3 TGSG 

last received contributions in 2018. In 2019 and 2020, TGSG made contributions to state and local 

candidates. It did not make any other contributions after June 2020 until the $12,000 contribution 

to Government of the People on July 22, 2022. 

By the time Mrs. Hartwell became a candidate for U.S. House on February 24, 2022, she 

no longer exercised control over or maintained the Beth Harwell Committee and TGSG.

4 Troy 

Brewer, the TSGS treasurer and the principal of Political Financial Management, a Nashvillebased campaign finance compliance business, was responsible for the state-level committees.

5

Mr. Brewer received a request from GOTP’s treasurer, Debra Maggart, and GOTP’s

counsel at the law firm Frost Brown Todd LLP, to transfer funds from the committee accounts 

over which he had control. Mr. Brewer made the contributions without consultation with Mrs. 

Harwell.6

Complaint 

Complainant asserts that based on Mrs. Harwell’s past association with the Beth Harwell 

Committee and TGSG both are “established, financed, maintained, or controlled” by Mrs. Harwell 

and that she directed or transferred the contributions at issue to Government of the People. 

The complaint is based on speculation and assumption, not facts or evidence. It makes no 

factual allegations. It simply says “Harwell appears to have directed” the state committees “to 

contribute ... to GOTP.”7 And then goes on to declare that this “appearance” creates reason to 

believe that a violation has occurred.8

 The Commission should not find “reason to believe” based 

on nothing but speculation. 

Legal Analysis 

1 It can be found in the online system of the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance as “Harwell PAC,” but it has 

always been registered as Tennesseans for Good State Government.

2 Tennessee Online Campaign Finance, https://apps.tn.gov/tncamp/ (visited March 30, 2023). 3 TREF SS-1112 for Tennesseans for Good State Government PAC, dated February 2, 2018 (obtained from TREF) 4 Decl. of Beth Harwell, attached as Exhibit A.

5 Decl. of Troy Brewer, attached as Exhibit B. 6 Id. 7 Complaint (November 15, 2022), MUR 8091 (Beth Harwell et al.) ¶¶ 16,17. 8 Id, ¶ 18.

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 FECA provides, in relevant part, that 

A candidate, individual holding Federal office, agent of a 

candidate or an individual holding Federal office, or an 

entity directly or indirectly established, financed, maintained 

or controlled by or acting on behalf of 1 or more candidates 

or individuals holding Federal office, shall not— 

(A)Solicit, receive, direct, transfer, or spend funds in 

connection with an election for Federal office, 

including funds for any Federal election activity, 

unless the funds are subject to the limitations, 

prohibitions, and reporting requirements of the Act; 

....9

Mrs. Harwell was a “candidate” under FECA’s definition beginning on February 22, 2022. 

The question raised by the complaint is whether the state-level committees were entities that Mrs. 

Harwell “established, financed, maintained or controlled” (“EFMC’d”) and, if so, whether they 

directed or transferred any funds not subject to FECA’s amount limitations and source 

prohibitions. 

The state-level committees were not EFMC’d by Mrs. Harwell. 

As then-Commissioner Lee E. Goodman noted, “the plain language of the statute also 

provides that a candidate or officeholder must establish, finance, maintain, or control the entity 

while the person is a federal candidate or federal officeholder.”10 That Mrs. Harwell may have 

EFMC’d the state-level committees prior to becoming a candidate is irrelevant.

Mrs. Harwell established the state-level committee long before she became a federal

candidate.

Mrs. Harwell did not finance the state-level committees as a federal candidate. Neither 

committee received any contributions from Mrs. Harwell or anyone else after 2018. 

Mrs. Harwell did not maintain the state-level committees as a federal candidate. Mr. 

Brewer maintained the records of the state-level committees, kept their bank accounts, and filed 

their campaign finance reports with TREF. 

Mrs. Harwell did not exercise control over the state-level committees as a federal 

candidate. She had not been involved in the state-level committees in any significant way since 

they were last active in 2018.

Several Commissioners have also made clear that “[a]n organization’s name tells us 

9 52 USC § 30125(e)(1).

10 Policy Statement of Commissioner Goodman on the “Established, Financed, Maintained or Controlled” Doctrine 

(February 26, 2018).

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nothing about whether an individual has actual control of or influence over the organization.”11

That the Beth Harwell Committee bears Mrs. Harwell’s name does not indicate that she controls 

it. And, as noted above, TGSG does not bear her name. 

In addition to the plain language of the statute, Commission regulations set out a nonexhaustive list of ten factors to determine whether a candidate EFMC’d an entity. These factors

“must be examined in the context of the overall relationship between [the candidate] and the 

entity.”12 Eight of the ten factors are entirely absent from the relationship between Mrs. Harwell 

and the state-level committees. The two factors that are present are not a sufficient basis for the 

Commission to determine that Mrs. Harwell EFMC’d either entity.

 Mrs. Harwell “has the authority or ability to direct or participate in the governance of” the 

state-level committees.13 She is the candidate who authorized the Beth Harwell Committee and 

she is the President of TGSG. This factor alone is insufficient to establish that she EFMC’d either 

committee as she did not exercise her authority in any meaningful way in the three years prior to 

her federal candidacy.

Mrs. Harwell “has the authority to hire, appoint, demote, or otherwise control the officers” 

of the state-level committees.14 The policy rationale supporting this factor is that the committee 

treasurer might fear being replaced because of some substantial interest in continuing in that role, 

such as compensation. Neither of the state level committees have provided compensation to 

treasurers in several years and neither has a sufficient remaining balance to provide any additional 

compensation in the future, so this factor does not weigh heavily in the EFMC determination. 

That GOTP used the funds contributed by the state-level committees to support Mrs. 

Harwell’s candidacy does not create an inference that Mrs. Harwell EFMC’d them. Several 

Commissioners, as well as the Office of General Counsel have rejected this type of post hoc

reasoning.15

The state-level committees had funds subject to FECA’s restrictions.

The state-level committees used funds raised subject to FECA’s amount limitations and 

source prohibitions in making their contributions to GOTP. Using a reasonable accounting method, 

the state-level committees can show funds included in the transfer came from federally permissible 

contributions. 

TGSG’s contribution to GOTP consisted primarily of funds subject to FECA’s amount 

limitations and source prohibitions. Using the last in, first transferred method,16 the last $12,000 

11 Statement of Reasons of Chairman Allen Dickerson and Commissioners Sean J. Cooksey and James E. “Trey” 

Trainor, III. (May 31, 2022), MUR 7783 (Byron Donald for Congress, et al.). 12 11 CFR § 300.2(c)(2). 13 11 CFR § 300.2(c)(2)(ii). 14 11 CFR § 300.2(c)(2)(iii). 15 Statement of Reasons of Chairman Allen Dickerson and Commissioners Sean J. Cooksey and James E. “Trey” 

Trainor, III. (May 31, 2022), MUR 7783 (Byron Donald for Congress, et al.), citing First General Counsel’s Report 

at 14 (July 8, 2021), MUR 7683 (Our Revolution, et al.). 16 The Commission has held that the “last in, first transferred” method described in 11 CFR 110.3(c)(4) is a 

reasonable accounting method. See, e.g., Advisory Opinions 2007-26 (Schock), 2006-38 (Casey State Committee), 

2006-25 (Kyl), 2006-21 (Cantwell 2006), and 2006-06 (Busby).

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in came from individual donors, not corporations. Of that amount, only $2,500 exceeded the 

Federal contribution limit. So, $9,500, in excess of seventy percent of the transfer, were subject to 

FECA’s restrictions.

The Beth Harwell Committee’s contribution included some funds subject to FECA’s 

amount limitations and source prohibitions. Using the last in, first transferred method, the last 

$35,000 in came from a combination of individual donors, state multi-candidate committees, and 

PACs registered with the Commission. Contributions from individual donors and PACs registered 

with the Commission comply with FECA. Some state multi-candidate committees appear to have 

accepted contributions only from individuals within the amount limitations. Less than the $35,000 

at issue was raised outside of FECA limitations.

The Commission has dismissed EFMC matters involving similar amounts. 

Even after finding that a candidate appeared to have maintained or controlled a state 

committee, the Commission voted to dismiss a complaint under its prosecutorial discretion.17

Although the Commission was unable to approve the Factual and Legal Analysis recommend by 

the General Counsel in that case, several Commissioners provided a helpful explanation that the 

modest amount at issue—$10,000, an amount similar in size to the contribution by TSGS—

warranted the exercise of prosecutorial discretion to dismiss the allegation.18 The Commission, 

after a reason to believe finding in an EFMC case involving a larger amount--$50,000, an amount 

in excess of the combined contributions here—closed the file without taking action against the 

candidate.19 To reach a different conclusion in this case, where substantial reason to doubt that 

Mrs. Harwell EFMC’d the state-level committees, would be unfair. 

Constitutional Issues 

For the reasons already enumerated, the complaint should be dismissed based on FECA 

and the facts. However, even if a case could be made that the complaint is sufficient for a reason 

to believe finding—which it is not—the Commission should use its prosecutorial discretion “to 

avoid serious constitutional doubt.”20 The Supreme Court “has identified only one legitimate 

governmental interest in restricting campaign finances: preventing corruption or the appearance of 

corruption.”21 As the complaint notes, the prohibition on candidates and entities they EFMC using 

soft money in connection with federal elections has been established.22 However, the lack of any 

possibility of corruption or the appearance of corruption would make applying the rule to this case 

constitutionally suspect. 

It is implausible that Respondents could actually or apparently corrupt themselves. The 

funds at issue were received by the state-level committees three years prior to Mrs. Harwell 

becoming a candidate. Once they were received, they were no longer under the control of the 

17 MUR 7114 (Casperson for Congress et al.). 18 Statement of Reasons of Vice Chair Caroline C. Hunter and Commissioners Lee E. Goodman and Matthew S. 

Petersen (November 16, 2017), MUR 7114 (Casperson for Congress et al.). 19 MUR 7337 (Debbie Lesko et al.) 20 Arizona v Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc., 570 U.S. 1, 19 (2013). 21 McCutcheon v Fed. Election Comm’n, 134 S. Ct. 1434, 1450 (2014). 22 Complaint (November 15, 2022), MUR 8091 (Beth Harwell et al.) ¶¶, 11, 12, citing McConnell v. FEC, 540 U.S. 

93, 181-184 (2003).

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original donors, but of Respondent. If as complainant alleges, Mrs. Harwell EFMC’d the statelevel committees, then she would have been contributing the funds in support of her own election 

to Federal office, effectively making her both donor and recipient. How could Mrs. Harwell engage 

in a quid pro quo arrangement with herself? 

Conclusion 

Mrs. Harwell did not EFMC the state-level committees, some of the funds at issue are 

within FECA’s limitations, to the extent the funds were outside those limitations, the Commission 

has dismissed complaints involving similar amounts in EFMC cases, and there is no possibility of 

quid pro quo corruption with the transactions at issue. For these reasons, the Commission should 

find no reason to believe that Respondents’ have violated the Act and should dismiss the complaint.

Respectfully, 

Christopher M. Marston

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Exhibit A 

Declaration of Beth Harwell 

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Exhibit B 

Declaration of Troy Brewer 

MUR809100033
 DECLARATION

I, Troy Brewer, do upon oath declare as follows:

1. I have personal knowledge of the facts set forth herein. I am over the age of 18, and I am 

otherwise competent to provide this affidavit.

2. The Beth Hartwell Committee contributed $35,000 to Government of the People on July 

22, 2022.

3. Tennesseans for Good State Government PAC contributed $12,000 to Government of the 

People on July 22, 2022.

4. Debra Maggart, treasurer of Government of the People, an Independent ExpenditureOnly Committee, directed me to send these funds.

5. I made the contributions without consulting or seeking permission from Beth Harwell.

I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.

Troy Brewer

DocuSign Envelope ID: 9F34B616-5B96-4826-948B-7F28D72DEB59

3/31/2023

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