Jonathan S. Berkon

JBerkon@perkinscoie.com

D. +1.202.434.1669

F. +1.202.654.9684

November 6, 2020

VIA E-MAIL AUDIT@FEC.GOV

Ms. Dayna C. Brown 

Acting Assistant Staff Director 

Audit Division

Federal Election Commission

1050 First Street NE 

Washington, DC 20463

Re: Grassroots Victory PAC Draft Final Audit Report

Dear Ms. Brown:

We write as counsel for Grassroots Victory PAC (“GVP” or the “Committee”) in response to the 

Draft Final Audit Report (“Report”). The Report, unlike the Interim Audit Report and the 

preliminary audit findings, finally concedes that the auditors found no new information that the 

Committee had not already disclosed to the Commission: “GVP is correct in stating that in 

August 2018, prior to the October 2019 audit notification, it amended its disclosure reports to 

accurately disclose missing financial activity.” Report at 5. Under the Audit Division’s own 

guidance, a misstatement of financial activity finding is therefore unwarranted. The Committee 

requests a hearing on this matter. 

As we discussed in our response to the preliminary audit findings and to the Interim Audit 

Report, in early 2018, the Committee discovered unreported disbursements for its September, 

October, and November Monthly 2017 reports and amended those reports. To discover the 

source of the discrepancies, the Committee hired a compliance firm to review its past reports and 

financial activities. This review identified additional undisclosed disbursements as well as some 

previously reported contributions and disbursements that required amendment, and so the 

Committee amended its reports in August 2018. As noted in the Report, this audit followed those 

proactive amendments.

We have twice asked the auditors to explain their choice to work from the original reports rather 

than the amended reports that were on the public record before the audit began. Once again, the 

Report contains no explanation: 

The Audit staff notes that, as highlighted in the Facts section above, 

it reviewed GVP’s original reports and amended reports during the 

course of the audit. GVP is correct in stating that in August 2018, 

prior to the October 2019 audit notification, it amended its 
Dayna C. Brown

November 6, 2020

Page 2

disclosure reports to accurately disclose missing financial activity. 

However, it was GVP’s responsibility to accurately and timely 

disclose all financial activity on the respective due date of the 

required report. As such, the Audit staff maintains that GVP’s 

original reports understated its disbursements by $106,674. Report 

at 5.

GVP respects that it has a responsibility to accurately and timely disclose all financial activity. 

That is why it undertook a comprehensive review of its reports and financial activities to correct 

the public record. In addition, as we discussed in our response to the preliminary audit findings, 

the Committee has taken numerous additional steps to improve its recordkeeping and reporting 

capabilities, including working with an outside compliance firm to audit its activities and sending 

staff to attend five FEC webinars.

The Report confirms that these efforts were successful and that GVP’s public reports were 

accurate as of August 2018. A finding of “Misstatement of Financial Activity” therefore does not 

match what the audit actually found— the Committee accurately disclosed its financial activity, 

on its own volition, through amended reports that preceded the audit. The Audit Division’s own 

guidance says that a committee “can reduce the misstated amount by demonstrating that the 

audited reports were materially correct or misstated by a lesser amount prior to the audit 

notification letter.” Fed. Elec. Comm’n, Audit Division 2017–2018 Materiality Thresholds at 28. 

Here, the Report concedes that the Committee’s reports were materially correct more than a year 

before the audit notification letter. There was no misstatement of financial activity prior to the 

audit notification letter. Thus, under the Audit Division’s own guidance, the Committee’s reports 

as amended prior to the audit do raise an issue that meets the criteria for inclusion in the audit 

report. Id.

Very truly yours,

Jonathan S. Berkon

Emily A. Hogin

Counsel for Grassroots Victory PAC

cc: James E. “Trey” Trainor III, Chair 

Steven T. Walther, Vice Chair 

Ellen L. Weintraub, Commissioner

Nicole Burgess, Audit Manager