ABSTRACT
The history of regulating campaign financing in the United States has been fraught with abuses, disappointments, and failures. Often problems have stemmed from inadequate or nonexistent enforcement. The Department of Justice continued to have jurisdiction over criminal enforcement of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA). Aspects of the enforcement process impinge upon the due process rights of respondents, the political committees and individuals who are subject to investigation. An enforcement proceeding or a Matter Under Review may be initiated in two ways, either on the basis of a complaint filed with the Commission or information found by the Commission in the normal course of its business. Enforcement agencies adjudicate facts in several ways, but the most common method is in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act with Administrative law judges presiding over the investigation and briefing process. When Congress removed the ederal Election Commission’s random audit authority in the 1979 amendments to the FECA, it removed an effective enforcement tool.
