The Republican-led House Administration Committee has found evidence that illegal donations from China, Russia, Iran and Venezuela may have been laundered to Democratic campaigns through the party’s online fundraising juggernaut ActBlue.
Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) wrote to ActBlue CEO Regina Wallace-Jones on Monday “to demand information on ActBlue’s donor verification policies,” which are allegedly letting US adversaries use unwitting straw donors to make political contributions.
“Our investigation has indicated that these [foreign] actors may be exploiting existing U.S. [sic] donors by making straw donations without the individuals’ or your platform’s knowledge,” Steil wrote.
“This failure to verify donor identity may have allowed foreign actors to fraudulently participate in the political process.”
ActBlue has already admitted to the committee that until recently it did not require donors to provide the card verification code (“CVV”) associated with credit or debit cards when making an online contribution — making it easy to contribute without having to confirm one’s identity.
When entering a new credit card number, donors on ActBlue must now submit their CVV.
Steil said his committee has petitioned the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to “initiate an emergency rulemaking process” to redress this.
Classified briefings are also expected with the Treasury Department, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and FBI to help the committee further probe foreign illegal donations.
Several state attorneys general have launched further inquiries into referrals from the committee on suspicious donations made in the names of unwitting donors in their states.
ActBlue raised more than $2.2 billion for Democratic candidates and causes during the 2021-2022 campaign cycle, according to the money-in-politics tracker OpenSecrets.com.
Within hours of President Biden abandoning his 2024 re-election campaign July 21, small-dollar donors on the fundraising platform contributed as much as $46.7 million to help Vice President Kamala Harris defeat former President Donald Trump.
It’s only the latest allegation of fraud leveled against ActBlue.
Earlier this month, Wisconsin GOP strategist Mark Block claimed in a bombshell racketeering lawsuit that his identity was stolen to make at least 385 donations to left-wing causes, as well as the veep’s super PAC, the Harris Victory Fund.
Block, who served as the late Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain’s chief of staff in 2012, said $884.38 was donated in his name — but without his knowledge or consent — from May to October.
The individual donations charged to Block were under $200, meaning that they did not have to be reported to the FEC.
According to money laundering experts on Steil’s panel, ActBlue’s donation history over the past 14 years also shows several suspicious fact patterns.
Hundreds of donations have been recorded amounting to just $2.50 from the same individual.
Other donors have contributed far more than they could reasonably afford, or as in Block’s case, donations have been made to the opposite party of the donor without explanation.
Steil also said his committee is “in the process of subpoenaing” all records between Oct. 1, 2023, and the present related to ActBlue donations with prepaid cards or gift cards, as well as any internal memos or documents “that pertain to deplatforming any entities where the source of funding came from a foreign or sanctioned source” or “that pertain to any reports received from U.S. [sic] citizens alleging unauthorized or fraudulent donations made in their names.”
“ActBlue has received Chairman Steil’s inquiry and will respond to clarify inaccuracies and misrepresentations about our platform, which have increased in the lead up to the election,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “We rigorously protect our donors’ security and enforce strict anti-fraud compliance policies. We have zero tolerance for fraud on our platform and are confident in our longstanding reputation as a trusted and reliable digital fundraising platform.”
