July 14, 2022 

BY ELECTRONIC MAIL DELIVERY

Office of General Counsel

Attn: Lisa J. Stevenson, Esq. 

Acting General Counsel 

Federal Election Commission

1050 First Street NE 

Washington, DC 20463 

ao@fec.gov 

Re: Advisory Opinion Request

Dear Ms. Stevenson: 

Pursuant to 52 U.S.C. § 30108, we seek an advisory opinion on behalf of Warren Democrats to 

confirm that it may pay for reasonable cybersecurity measures to protect Senator Elizabeth 

Warren’s home network, which connects to her electronic devices and the electronic devices of 

other members of her household, under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (the “Act”) 

and Federal Election Commission (“FEC” or the “Commission”) regulations.

I. FACTUAL DISCUSSION 

Warren Democrats, Inc. (the “Committee”) is registered with the FEC as the principal campaign

committee of Senator Elizabeth Warren, who is running for re-election to the U.S. Senate in 2024.

1

 

As a high-profile elected official, Senator Warren faces threats greater than those faced by the 

general public, including heightened vulnerability to cyberattacks against her electronic devices 

and accounts. As former Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats testified in a 2018 hearing 

before the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, hackers target the accounts and devices 

of government officials because they “can contain information that is useful for [U.S.] 

1 FEC, FEC Form 1: Statement of Organization, Warren Democrats, Inc. (March 23, 2020), 

https://docquery.fec.gov/pdf/575/202003239215621575/202003239215621575.pdf. 

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adversaries.” 2 In a 2018 opinion, the Commission recognized the “current heightened threat 

environment of cyberattacks faced by Senators.”3 

In fact, in recent years, hackers have repeatedly targeted U.S. government officials, including U.S. 

Senators. In 2018, foreign government hackers targeted the personal Gmail accounts of several 

U.S. Senators and their aides.4 In 2020, hackers also targeted officials at the U.S. Department of 

the Treasury. 5 Cybersecurity experts have warned that government officials continue to be

vulnerable to cyberattacks today.6 

As such, the Committee seeks to pay for reasonable cybersecurity measures to protect Senator 

Warren’s home network, which connects to her electronic devices, as well as the electronic devices 

of other members and visitors of her household. Such measures include professionally-managed 

security services to provide ongoing network monitoring, patch management, backup 

management, and remote incident remediation services to ensure overall network security. The 

Commission authorized the use of campaign funds to pay for such services in Advisory Opinion 

2018-15, but noted in that instance that campaign funds could not be used to pay for any 

cybersecurity measures “for devices and accounts of family members, staff, or other persons.”7 In 

the present case, although the Senator will continue to pay personally for internet services to her 

home, the Committee’s purpose in paying for cybersecurity measures to protect Senator Warren’s 

home network is to protect the Senator’s accounts and devices. However, such security measures 

will also benefit members and visitors of Senator Warren’s household, because their devices and 

accounts also connect to the Senator’s home network. 

II. QUESTION POSED

The Committee asks the Commission to confirm that under the Act and Commission regulations, 

the Committee may pay for reasonable cybersecurity services to protect the Senator’s home 

network, which connects to her electronic devices and the electronic devices of other members and 

visitors of her household. 

2 FEC, Adv. Op. Request 2018-15 (Wyden) at AOR008, https://www.fec.gov/files/legal/aos/2018-

15/201815R_1.pdf. 3 FEC, Adv. Op. 2018-15 at 4 (Wyden), https://www.fec.gov/files/legal/aos/2018-15/2018-15.pdf. 4 Frank Bajak and Raphael Satter, State-backed hackers target Gmail of US senators, aides, Associated Press (Sept. 

20, 2018), https://apnews.com/article/bfeedaeedbe9473eacd6ee20d06e832d. 5 Raphael Satter, ‘Dozens of email accounts’ were hacked at U.S. Treasury -Senator Wyden, Reuters (Dec. 21, 

2020), https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-cyber-idCAKBN28V2DX. 6 Maggie Miller, Why we can expect more hacking of politicians’ phones, Politico (May 31, 2022), 

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/31/hacking-politicians-phones-00035848. 7 FEC, Adv. Op. 2018-15 at 4 (Wyden), https://www.fec.gov/files/legal/aos/2018-15/2018-15.pdf. 

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III. LEGAL ANALYSIS

The Act and Commission regulations permit Members to use campaign funds to pay for reasonable 

cybersecurity measures to secure their home network that connects to their electronic devices, even 

if the network also connects to the electronic devices of other members and visitors of their 

household. 

Federal law prohibits using candidate committee funds for any individual’s “personal use.”8 The 

term “personal use” means “any use of funds in a campaign account . . . to fulfill a commitment, 

obligation or expense of any person that would exist irrespective of the candidate’s campaign or 

duties as a Federal officeholder.”9 While certain expenses automatically qualify as a prohibited 

personal use, other expenses are subject to a case-by-case determination. If the expense would 

exist irrespective of candidacy or official duties, campaign funds may not be used to pay for it; 

alternatively, if the expense would not exist irrespective of candidacy or official duties, campaign 

funds may be used to pay for it.10

Payments for residential cybersecurity measures are not included as a prohibited per se personal 

use.11 Accordingly, campaign funds may be used to pay for such measures if the expense would 

not exist irrespective of the Senator’s candidacy or official duties. 

For Members of Congress, the Commission has already held that the purchase of residential 

security systems is a permissible use of campaign funds. In 2017, the U.S. Capitol Police 

recommended that all Members upgrade their residential security due to a heightened threat 

environment. Pursuant to this recommendation, the FEC expressly authorized Members to use 

campaign funds to pay for costs associated with residential security systems that are not structural 

improvements, without such use constituting personal use of campaign funds.12 A Member does 

not need to face a specific or ongoing threat or obtain an individualized assessment from U.S. 

Capitol Police in order to purchase a non-structural residential security system, such as the 

installation or upgrade and monitoring costs of cameras, sensors, distress devices, and similar nonstructural security devices, as well as locks, in and around a Member’s residence.13 

In 2018, the FEC recognized that Members also face a heightened threat environment of 

cyberattacks, and issued an advisory opinion permitting Members to also use campaign funds to 

pay for cybersecurity measures to secure their personal electronic devices and accounts.14 The 

8 52 U.S.C. § 30114(b)(1). 9 11 C.F.R. § 113.1(g).

10 11 C.F.R. §§ 113.2(e); 113.1(g). 11 11 C.F.R. § 113. l(g)(l)(i)(A)-(J). 12 FEC Adv. Op. 2017-7 (Sergeant at Arms), https://www.fec.gov/files/legal/aos/2017-07/2017-07.pdf. 13 Id. 14 FEC Adv. Op. 2018-15 (Wyden), https://www.fec.gov/data/legal/advisory-opinions/2018-15/. 

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FEC held that the “personal electronic devices and accounts of Senators are more likely to be the 

targets of hackers and foreign actors than are those of other individuals, and both the heightened 

risk to Senators’ personal electronic devices and accounts and the magnitude of the potential harm 

would not exist if not for their roles as federal officeholders.”15 As a result, the Commission 

authorized the use of campaign funds to pay for reasonable expenses incurred in protecting a 

Member’s personal electronic devices and accounts from, and responding to, cybersecurity 

threats.16

By extension, the Commission should find that it is permissible for the Committee to pay for 

reasonable cybersecurity measures to secure the Senator’s home network that connects to her

electronic devices and accounts, including professionally-managed security services to provide 

ongoing network monitoring, patch management, backup management, and remote incident 

remediation services to ensure overall network security. The use of campaign funds for such 

expenses remains permissible even if the network also connects to the electronic devices and 

accounts of other members and visitors of the Senator’s household. The heightened risk to the 

Senator’s home network would not exist if not for the Senator’s role as a federal officeholder and 

candidate, and the Committee’s purpose in paying for the cybersecurity measures is to specifically

protect the devices and accounts of the Senator; other household members or visitors connecting 

to the Senator’s home network only benefit as third-party beneficiaries. Just as the use of campaign 

funds for cameras or locks around a Member’s residence is permissible even as other members of 

the Member’s household also benefit from such measures as third-party beneficiaries, the use of 

campaign funds for cybersecurity measures to protect home networks that connect to the Senator’s

electronic devices and accounts is permissible even as other members of the Senator’s household 

may benefit from such measures as third-party beneficiaries.

For those reasons, we ask the Commission to confirm that the Committee may use its funds to pay 

for reasonable cybersecurity measures to protect Senator Warren’s home network, which connects 

to her electronic devices and accounts, and the electronic devices and accounts of other members 

and visitors of her household. 

15 Id. at 4. 16 Id. 

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Very truly yours, 

Kate Sawyer Keane

Sarah N. Mahmood 

Counsel to Warren Democrats, Inc.

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