FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION

Washington, DC 20463

1 MEMORANDUM

2 

3 TO: The Commission

4 

5 FROM: Lisa Stevenson 

6 Acting General Counsel 

 7 

8 BY: Kathleen Guith

9 Associate General Counsel for Enforcement

 10 

11 Mark Shonkwiler 

12 Assistant General Counsel 

 13 

14 Antoinette Fuoto 

15 Staff Attorney

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17 SUBJECT: MUR 6920 (American Conservative Union, et al.)

 18 

19 RE: Circulation of Discovery Documents 

20 ______________________________________________________________________________ 

21 

22 I. INTRODUCTION

23 

24 On January 24, 2017, the Commission found reason to believe that American 

25 Conservative Union (“ACU”) violated 52 U.S.C. § 30122 by knowingly permitting its name to 

26 be used to effect a $1.71 million contribution in the name of another to Now or Never PAC, an 

independent expenditure-only political committee.1 27 The Commission also found reason to 

28 believe that Unknown Respondents violated 52 U.S.C. § 30122 by making the contribution in the 

name of another.2 29 Following the Commission’s finding, the Office of General Counsel (“OGC”) 

30 commenced an investigation to determine the identity of the undisclosed donor and the 

31 circumstances surrounding the contribution. On July 11, 2017, the Commission substituted 

32 Government Integrity, LLC (“GI LLC”) in the name of Unknown Respondent, found reason to 

33 believe that Now or Never PAC and James C. Thomas, III (“Thomas”) in his official capacity as 

34 treasurer, and in his personal capacity, knowing and willfully accepted a contribution in the name 

35 of another and failed to properly report that contribution, and found reason to believe that 

36 Thomas knowingly and willfully assisted in the making of a contribution in the name of another 

 

1

 See Certification, MUR 6920 (ACU, et al.) (Jan. 26, 2017). 

2

 ACU’s IRS filings indicated that the funds used for the contribution came from an undisclosed donor. 
MUR 6920 (American Conservative Union, et al.)

Memo to the Commission

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in his individual capacity.3 1 The Commission also authorized subpoenas to ACU, ACU’s former 

2 executive director, and Thomas. In response to those subpoenas, we have learned of additional 

3 parties who may have been involved in the transaction and have information relevant to our 

4 investigation. 

 5 

6 II. DISCUSSION

 7 

8 Counsel for Thomas provided OGC with interrogatory answers and responsive 

9 documents, and on July 30, 2017, provided additional information during a telephone 

10 conference. We now seek discovery for several parties named in Thomas’s response. 

11 

12 A. Incentive Discretionary Trust 

13 

14 In response to our request for information regarding the known principals and agents of 

15 GI LLC, Thomas states that an attorney, Charles Harris, “acting as trustee of an entity named 

16 Incentive Discretionary Trust” (the “Trust”) appointed GI LLC’s now-deceased principal. 

17 Additionally, in response to our questioning of whether any person or entity provided the funds 

18 GI LLC used to contribute $1.8 million to ACU, Thomas responded that GI LLC “received a 

19 donation of approximately $2.5 million on or around the date” of the transfer from GI LLC to 

20 ACU and “is reasonably certain that the funds were provided to GI LLC by the Incentive 

Discretionary Trust.”4 21 Accordingly, we now seek information to establish the source of the 

22 funds from Incentive Discretionary Trust used to effect the contribution from GI LLC to ACU. 

23 We are requesting this information to ascertain whether GI LLC is the true source of the 

24 contribution that ACU made to Now or Never PAC. Given the relevance of this information and 

25 the statute of limitations in this matter — the transaction occurred on October 31, 2017 — we 

26 propose the attached order to compel the Trust to provide that information. 

27 

28 B. Axiom Strategies and Jeff Roe 

 29 

30 In his Response, Thomas states that Axiom Strategies “has served as a political 

31 consultant to Now or Never PAC and has participated in the PAC’s operations and financial 

32 activities, and the terms of Mr. Thomas’s engagement with Now or Never PAC expressly 

33 authorize him to carry out the instructions of Axiom Strategies in performing his duties as 

treasurer.”5 34 Thomas also provided several emails regarding the transaction that are addressed to 

35 employees of Axiom. And, during a phone call, counsel for Thomas suggested that Thomas 

36 acted at the direction of Jeff Roe, Axiom’s founder, and that Axiom and Gregg Keller, ACU’s 

37 former executive director, were the likely architects of the transaction. Accordingly, we now 

38 seek information regarding Axiom’s knowledge of the transaction and any documents relating to 

39 the transaction. This information is relevant to our recommendations regarding whether the 

40 various parties acted knowing and willfully. We therefore propose the attached orders to compel 

41 Axiom Strategies and Jeff Roe to provide documents and answer questions regarding the 

42 transaction. 

 

3

 See Certification, MUR 6920 (ACU, et al.) (July 12, 2017).

4

 See Thomas Response to Subpoena at 4 (July 28, 2017) 

5

 Id at 7.
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Memo to the Commission

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