Final Audit Report of the 

Commission on 

Obama for America 

(January 16, 2007 - December 31, 2008) 

Why the Audit 

Was Done 

Federal law permits the 

Commission to conduct 

audits and field 

investigations of any 

political committee that is 

required to file reports 

under the Federal 

Election Campaign Act 

(tiie Act). The 

Commission generally 

conducts such audits 

when a committee 

appears not to have met 

the threshold 

requirements for 

substantial compliance 

with the Act.* Tlie audit 

determines whether the 

committee complied with 

the limitations, 

prohibitions and 

disclosure requirements 

of the Act. 

About the Campaign (p. 2) 

Obama for America (OFA) is the principal campaign committee for 

Barack Obama, a candidate for the Democratic Party's nomination for 

the office of President ofthe United States. OFA is headquartered in 

Chicago, Illinois. For more information, see the chart on the Campaign 

Organization, p. 2. 

Financial Activity (p. 2) 

Receipts 

o Contributions fi-om Individuals $ 664,642,527 

o Contributions fi'om Other 

Political Committees 14,075 

o Transfers fi'om Authorized 

Committees 86,950,000 

o Offsets to Operating 25,131,132 

Expenditures 

o Other Receipts 1,675,373 

Total Receipts $ 778,413,107 

Disbursements 

o Operating Expenditures 

o Contribution Refunds 

o Other Disbursements 

Total Disbursements 

$ 706,559,330 

5,756,081 

47,944,663 

$ 760,260,074 

Future Action 

The Commission may 

initiate an enforcement 

action, at a later time, 

with respect to the matter 

discussed in this report. 

Commission Finding (p. 3) 

• Failure to File 48-Hour Notices 

2 U.S.C. §438(b). 
Audit Report of the 

Commission on Obama for 

America 

(January 16, 2007 - December 31, 2008) 
Table of Contents 

Page 

Part I. Background 

Authority for Audit 1 

Scope of Audit 1 

Audit Hearing 1 

Part II. Overview of Campaign 

Campaign Organization 2 

Overview of Financial Activity 2 

Part III. Summary 

Commission Finding 3 

Part IV. Commission Finding 

Failure to File 48-Hour Notices 4 
Parti 

Background 

Authority for Audit 

This report is based on an audit of Obama for America (OFA), undertaken by the Audit 

Division ofthe Federal Election Commission (the Commission) in accordance with the 

Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended (the Act). The Audit Division 

conducted the audit pursuant to 2 U.S.C. §438(b), which permits the Commission to 

conduct audits and field investigations of any political committee that is required to file a 

report imder 2 U.S.C. §434. Prior to conducting any audit under this subsection, the 

Commission must perform an intemal review of reports filed by selected committees to 

determine ifthe reports filed by a particular committee meet the threshold requirements 

for substantial compliance with the Act. 2 U.S.C. §438(b). 

Scope of Audit 

Following Commission-approved procedures, the Audit staff evaluated various risk 

factors and as a result, this audit examined: 

1. the receipt of excessive contributions; 

2. the receipt of contributions firom prohibited sources; 

3. the disclosure of contributions received; 

4. the disclosure of individual contributors' occupation and name of employer; 

5. the consistency between reported figures and bank records; 

6. the completeness of records; and 

7. other committee operations necessary to the review. 

Audit Hearing 

Obama for America declined the opportunity for an audit hearing before the Commission 

on the matter presented in this report. 
Part II 

Overview of Campaign 

Campaign Organization 

Important Dates 

• Date of Registration January 16,2007 

• Audit Coverage January 16,2007 - December 31,2008 

Headquarters Chicago, Illinois^ 

Bank Information 

• Bank Depositories Four 

• Bank Accoimts 16 

Treasurer 

• Treasurer When Audit Was Conducted Martin H. Nesbitt May 10,2007 - Present 

• Treasurer During Period Covered by Audit Robert R. Bauer January 16,2007 - May 

9,2007, Martin H. Nesbit May 10,2007 

- Present 

Management Information 

• Attended FEC Campaign Finance Seminar Yes 

• Who Handled Accounting and 

Recordkeeping Tasks 

Paid Staff 

Overview of Financial Activity 

(Audited Amounts) 

Cash-on-hand ^ January 16,2007 $ 0 

Receipts 

o Contributions firom Individuals 664,642,527 

o Contributions fi-om Other Political 

Committees 14,075 

o Transfers fi'om Authorized Committees 86,950.000 

o Offsets to Operating Expenditures 25,131,132 

o Other Receipts 1,675,373 

Total Receipts $ 778,413,107 

Disbursements 

o Operating Expenditures 706,559,330 

o Contribution Refunds 5,756,081 

o Other Disbursements 47,944,663 

Total Disbursements $ 760,260,074 

Cash-on-hand @ December 31,2008 $ 18,153,033 

Originally registered as the Obama Exploratoiy Committee, headquartered in Washington, D.C; the committee's name was 

changed to Obama for America and the headquarters was relocated to Chicago, Illinois, according to an amended Statement of 

Organization filed on February 12,2007. 
Part III 

Summary 

Commission Finding 

Failure to File 48-Hour Notices 

Based on audit fieldwork, OFA did not file required 48-hour notices for 1,312 

contributions, totaling $1,972,266, that were received prior to the general election. OFA 

provided no further information regarding this matter in response to the Interim Audit 

Report recommendation. 

The Commission approved a finding that OFA failed to file required 48-hour notices in 

2008. (For more detail, see page 4) 
Part IV 

Commission Finding 

I Failure to File 48-Hour Notices 

Summary 

Based on audit fieldwork, OFA did not file required 48-hour notices for 1,312 

contributions totaling $ 1,972,266 that were received prior to the general election. 

OFA provided no furtiier information regarding this matter in response to the Interim 

Audit Report recommendation. 

The Commission approved a finding that OFA failed to file required 48-hour notices in 

2008. 

Legal Standard 

Last-Minute Contributions (48-Hour Notice). Campaign committees must file special 

notices regarding contributions of $1,000 or more, received less than 20 days but more 

than 48 hours before any election in which the candidate is nmning. This rule applies to 

all types of contributions to any authorized committee ofthe candidate. 11 CFR 

§104.5(f). 

Facts and Anal3rsis 

A. Facts 

During fieldwork. Audit staff compared OFA's 48-hour notices with contributions of 

$1,000 or more that had been reported as received during the 48-hour notice filing 

period.' This review identified 1,312 contributions, totaling $1,972,266, for which OFA 

failed to file the required notices. A majority of the missing 48-hour notices arose from a 

transfer reported on October 24,2008 from tiie Obama Victory Fund (OVF), a joint 

fundraising committee composed of OFA and the Democratic National Committee 

(DNC). In order to verify whether the contributions in question had been received 

between October 16 and October 23, Audit staff traced contributions attributed to the 

October 24 transfer to the disclosure reports filed by OVF. 

B. Interim Audit Report & Audit Division Recommendation 

Prior to the end of audit fieldwork, and again at the exit conference. Audit staff provided 

OFA with schedules of contributions for which OFA had not filed 48-hour notices. At 

the exit conference, the OFA representative stated that OFA was reviewing tiie schedule 

and that comments or corrections would follow. 

Subsequent to the exit conference, OFA provided printouts of contributions that it 

believed had been reported on its 48-hour notice submissions. There were numerous 

contributions on the printouts that were not found on the public record. The difference 

The 48-hour report period was from October 16 through November 1,2008. 
between the sum of the printout totals and the total for all 48-hour notices appearing on 

the pubUc record was approximately $1,020,000. However, Commission records 

regarding these submissions indicate that the Commission actually placed all the data 

transmitted by OFA on the public record. The Audit staff informed OFA of this and 

inquired whether an inadvertent filing problem may have occurred with OFA's dataprocessing vendor. The Audit staff has received no response to this inquiry. 

The Interim Audit Report recommended that OFA provide: 

• documentation to demonstrate that the 48-hour notices were filed 

for the contributions in question; or 

• documentation establishing that the contributions were not subject 

to 48-hoiir notification; and/or, 

• any written conunents it considers relevant. 

C. Committee Response to Interim Audit Report 

OFA provided no further information regarding this matter in response to the Interim 

Audit Report. 

D. Draft Final Audit Report 

In the Drafi Final Audit Report, the Audit staff acknowledged that OFA had offered no 

further information. OFA's response to the Draft Final Audit Report did not offer any 

additional comments. 

Commission Conclusion 

On March 8,2012, the Commission considered the Audit Division Recommendation 

Memorandum, in which the Audit Division recommended that the Commission adopt a 

finding that OFA failed to file required 48-hour notices in 2008. 

The Commission approved the Audit staffs recommendation.