• DISCREPANCIES
  • RECONCILIATION
  • EXPOSURE
  • HUMAN

How to audit campaign spending with your AI

Connect your agent to the FEC to cross-reference committee filings against actual disbursements. You can spot discrepancies in real time.

Ask AI about this page

Short answer

How can I use AI to audit FEC campaign spending?

Your agent pulls itemized disbursement and receipt data directly from FEC filings to verify financial accuracy. You get a clear view of where money is going and if the totals match the individual entries.

Audit outcomes

What you'll find

The specific results your agent produces after scanning the filings.

DISCREPANCIES

Flagged mismatches

The AI compares total reported amounts against individual line items. You get a list of specific entries that don't add up.

RECONCILIATION

Verified totals

Your agent sums up every receipt and disbursement to ensure the committee's balance is correct. This confirms the math behind the filings.

EXPOSURE

Spending patterns

The agent categorizes where funds are being directed. You see exactly which vendors or categories are receiving the most capital.

HUMAN

Manual review

The AI highlights suspicious entries or missing documentation. You decide which specific transactions require a deep dive or a formal inquiry.

The workflow

What your AI does when the data arrives.

The agent handles the heavy lifting of fetching and summing FEC records.

  1. Identify the committee

    Your agent finds the specific organization you want to investigate to ensure you are looking at the right data.

    get_committee

  2. Pull disbursement records

    The agent fetches the itemized list of all money spent by the committee.

    list_schedule_b

  3. Pull receipt records

    The agent gathers all incoming funds to build a complete picture of the committee's cash flow.

    list_schedule_a

  4. Verify totals

    The agent checks the reported aggregate amounts against the sum of individual transactions to find errors.

    get_candidate_totals

Try it

Copy these to start.

Use these prompts to kick off your audit.

Starting points

Replace the committee names or IDs with the specific ones you are auditing.

OpenFEC Connector

You're all set. Choose your MCP client and follow the setup instructions.

Connector linkhttps://edge.vinkius.com/vk_preview_c6nkNH6j72jZbM1ngWScUbTjVSexSpaqFpqhIytX/mcp

Claude Desktop

Follow the steps below to connect in seconds.

  1. 1In Claude Desktop, open Settings → Connectors.
  2. 2Click “Add custom connector” and paste the connector link above as the remote MCP server URL.
  3. 3Click Add and start a new chat — OpenFEC capabilities are ready to use.
Configuration · claude_desktop_config.jsonCopy
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "openfec-federal-election-commission-mcp": {
      "url": "https://edge.vinkius.com/vk_preview_c6nkNH6j72jZbM1ngWScUbTjVSexSpaqFpqhIytX/mcp"
    }
  }
}
Copy into chat04

  • Get the details for the 'Committee for Progress' and check their total receipts.

  • List all disbursements from Schedule B for committee ID C00123456.

  • Compare the total candidate receipts against the sum of all individual entries in Schedule A.

  • Find any discrepancies between the reported totals and the itemized disbursements for this committee.

  • Claude
  • ChatGPT
  • Cursor
  • VS Code
  • Windsurf
  • Claude Code
  • JetBrains
  • Cline

Start here

Connect OpenFEC once, then ask.

Just link the connector to your agent. Your credentials stay encrypted, and you can start asking questions immediately.

Connect OpenFEC to your AI

FAQ

How the audit behaves

  • 01

    Can the AI change FEC filings?

    No. The AI only reads data from the FEC. It cannot edit, delete, or submit any filings.

  • 02

    Does the AI handle the actual filing process?

    No. This tool is for auditing and verifying existing data, not for submitting new reports.

  • 03

    Can I audit any political committee?

    Yes, as long as the committee has filed public reports with the FEC that are accessible via the tools.

  • 04

    Will the AI tell me if a transaction is illegal?

    No. The AI identifies mathematical discrepancies and patterns. It cannot make legal determinations or judge intent.

  • 05

    How does the AI verify the math?

    It uses the itemized lists to sum up every individual transaction and compares that sum to the reported totals.

  • More questions about OpenFEC? The Connector page answers them. See everything the OpenFEC Connector can do

Connect OpenFEC to Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT & more