3. Campaign Financing Crimes The federal campaign financing laws are embodied within the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA), 52 U.S.C. §§ 30101– 30146, as amended (most significantly in 1974, 1976, 1979, and 2002). As amended, FECA applies to virtually all financial transactions that impact upon, directly or indirectly, the election of candidates for federal office, that is, candidates for President or Vice President or for the United States Senate or House of Representatives. FECA reaches a wide range of communications aimed at influencing the public with respect to issues that are closely identified with federal candidates, referred to in the law as “electioneering communications.” FECA contains its own criminal sanctions, which provide that, to be a crime, a FECA violation must have been committed knowingly and willfully and, except for campaign misrepresentations and certain coerced contributions, must have involved at least $2,000 in a calendar year. 52 U.S.C. § 30109(d). FECA crimes aggregating $25,000 or more are five-year felonies, and those that involve illegal conduit contributions and aggregate over $10,000 are two-year felonies. 5 2 U.S.C. § 30109(d)(1)(A), (D). Moreover, all criminal violations of FECA are subject to U.S. Sentencing Guideline § 2C1.8, that the United States Sentencing Commission promulgated in response to a specific Congressional directive. FECA violations that either: (1) do not present knowing and willful violations, or (2) involve sums below the statutory minimums for criminal prosecution, are handled non-criminally by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) under the statute’s civil enforcement provisions. 52 U.S.C. § 30109(a). 4