- The complaint was filed by Jay Stone, a retired hypnotherapist.
- The Federal Electoral Commission found no evidence that the non-profit organization violated relevant laws.
- Celebrities named in the complaint included Tracee Ellis Ross and Megan Rapinoe.
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The Federal Election Commission on Friday dismissed a complaint filed by a Wisconsin hypnotherapist against a nonprofit led by Michelle Obama and celebrities who supported it — including Tom Hanks, Selena Gomez and Shonda Rhimes.
In a unanimous decision, the FEC found no reason to believe that the nonprofit organization When We All Vote and its parent organization Civic Nation violated certain sections of the Federal Election Campaigns Act of 1971 by failing to register and report as a political committee.
According to the statute, a political committee is defined as “any committee, club, association, or other group of individuals that receives aggregate contributions during a calendar year or incurs aggregate expenditures of more than $1,000 during a calendar year. “
The commission found that there was no information to support the complaint’s allegation that When We All Vote and Civic Nation received contributions or made expenditures in excess of $1,000.
It also concluded that a number of well-known individuals who made cash donations to the nonprofit organization had not broken the law. In addition to Hanks, Gomez and Rhimes, the star donor list included US soccer player Megan Rapinoe, actress Tracee Ellis Ross and singer Faith Hill. According to their website, many of those listed in the complaint are also co-chairs of When We All Vote.
The complaint was filed by Jay Stone, a retired hypnotherapist who has filed numerous complaints with the FEC regarding 2020 election donations.
The complaint alleged that When We All Vote misidentified itself as a nonprofit organization and “did more to help Joe Biden win the 2020 presidential election than did the Democratic National Committee,” despite claiming to be a nonpartisan organization .
Stone also claimed that the organization’s mission to close the age and racial voting gap by getting involved in voter registration and opting out of voting activities was “just an excuse for WWAV to achieve its goal of helping Democrat Joe Biden.” to win the 2020 presidential election.”
Legal counsel representing the nonprofit organization called the allegations “manifestly false.”
“Civic Nation and When We All Vote take very seriously their obligation to remain non-partisan and only engage in neutral, unbiased election activity,” the response said.
In a letter addressed to Hanks on July 19, 2022, the FEC stated that there was no information to support Stone’s claim.
Founded by former first lady Michelle Obama, When We All Vote is a bipartisan initiative dedicated to increasing voter turnout. The organization is an initiative of Civic Nation, a 501(c)(3) public charity.
When reached by Insider, Stone was not immediately available for comment.
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