The Democratic National Committee’s donor platform, ActBlue, is facing an investigation by Republicans on the House Oversight Committee regarding “potential fraud” linked to donations made to candidates’ campaigns.
In a letter addressed to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Republicans such as Rep. James Comer (R-KY), Rep. Nick Langworthy (R-NY), Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) wrote that the committee was investigating reports of “potentially fraudulent and illicit financial activity” that occurred in relation to “contributions to campaigns of candidates for federal offices mediated by online fundraising platforms like ActBlue.”
The lawmakers added that the reports had raised concerns that there was “fraud and evasion of campaign finance laws,” through the exploitation of “online contribution platforms.”
“The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is investigating reports of potentially fraudulent and illicit financial activity related to contributions to campaigns of candidates for federal offices mediated by online fundraising platforms like ActBlue,” the lawmakers wrote. “The Committee writes to request the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) make available to the Committee certain Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) relevant to the Committee’s investigation.”
The lawmakers pointed out that ActBlue had “not implemented standard procedures” in order to safeguard and prevent identity theft and fraud from occurring, “until it received criticism.”
Recent reports have raised the specter of fraud and evasion of campaign finance laws by individuals exploiting online contribution platforms, especially ActBlue. For example, ActBlue had not implemented standard procedures to guard against identity theft and fraud such as requiring a Card Verification Value (CVV) to process online transactions until it received criticism for not doing so. ActBlue is also being investigated by several states’ officials in relation to contributions allegedly made via the platform fraudulently without the reported contributor’s awareness. In Virginia, reports of contribution activity facilitated through the ActBlue platform included “some cases in which single donors made tens of thousands of separate donations worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
Federal law prohibits contributions made in the name of another person, and for good reason. The Committee is concerned that failure to properly vet contributions made through online platforms may have allowed bad actors to more easily commit fraud to illegally exploit and violated federal campaign finance laws. These bad actors could include foreign nationals not lawfully admitted for permanent residence who are prohibited by statute from contributing to campaigns or political parties. They could also include individuals looking to flout the limits of individual contributions by fraudulently using others’ identities to evade those limits, in addition to other criminal activity in violation of campaign finance laws.
As Breitbart News has previously reported, at the beginning of August, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares raised concerns to ActBlue over “suspicious” donations that had been made in “volumes” that seemed to be “facially implausible.”
Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray and Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey were also reported to have announced investigations into ActBlue. In December 2023, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton also began an investigation into ActBlue to find out if its “operations are compliant with all applicable laws.”
The lawmakers on the committee added in their letter that Yellen was “empowered to provide information obtained through SAR filings to congressional committees upon written request.”
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