FOCUS GROUP:

The commissioners in October unanimously agreed to prioritize investigations into complaints about foreign spending. And in some ways, the FEC's inquiry into Trump and Russia could offer greater transparency, accountability and focus than the congressional or law enforcement investigations.

FBI and congressional investigators are looking into a wide array of potential legal violations, most of which have little to do with the 2016 presidential election -- from omissions on foreign lobbying and personal income filings to money laundering and hacking. And there's little evidence that they're narrowing their focus.

The FEC, on the other hand, is charged exclusively with monitoring and enforcing the Federal Election Campaign Act. It bars foreign nationals, companies or governments from donating to U.S. campaign committees or from making expenditures "for the purpose of influencing" an election, and it also prohibits campaigns from coordinating with outside entities, including foreign ones.

If four commissioners vote to find reason to believe a violation may have occurred, the agency can begin issuing subpoenas and moving towards negotiating civil penalties, or possibly making criminal referrals to the Justice Department. (It's also possible that the FBI could ask the FEC to stand down if the agencies' investigations start overlapping). Yet, even if the five current members of the FEC (there's one vacancy) can't muster the four votes -- a scenario that has become increasingly common -- the staff's investigative report still becomes public, which could fuel additional scrutiny from congress and the media.

And, if the complainants are unhappy with the results of the investigation or believe it's taking too long, they're able to sue the agency in court -- a frequently used recourse that is not available in congressional and law enforcement investigations.

"The FEC has broad investigative powers to subpoena witnesses and documents, and compel testimony under oath," said Ron Fein, legal director of Free Speech for People, one of the watchdog groups that filed the complaint that the FEC is investigating against Trump and Russia. "I don't want to suggest that the FEC is a model of rapid enforcement, but this is possibly the single most important campaign finance investigation in the agency's entire history and this is its opportunity to rise to the challenge."

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