By ActBlue, the primary online fundraising platform for Democratic candidates and causes, is facing renewed legal and political scrutiny over its handling of potential foreign donations, according to a major investigation by The New York Times published Thursday.
Internal documents reviewed by the Times show that in early 2025, the law firm Covington & Burling warned ActBlue leadership that a 2023 letter from CEO Regina Wallace-Jones to congressional investigators may have presented an incomplete account of the organization’s screening procedures for overseas contributions.
The 2023 letter described “multilayered” vetting efforts designed to identify and block donations from foreign nationals, who are barred under federal election law from contributing directly to U.S. campaigns or political committees. But Covington’s subsequent memos concluded that some of those steps were not consistently applied, particularly for donations processed through third-party services such as Apple Pay, PayPal, or Venmo.
One memo from the firm warned of “a substantial risk” that ActBlue could face allegations of accepting or facilitating impermissible foreign contributions. It further cautioned that if prosecutors determined staff knew the system fell short of the described standards, any violations could be considered “knowing and willful,” potentially triggering criminal jurisdiction for the U.S. Department of Justice.
The memos did not identify specific illegal donations or conclude that federal law had been broken. However, they raised the possibility of penalties, including up to five years in prison and $250,000 fines for misleading Congress, while noting such an outcome was extremely unlikely.
The warnings coincided with internal turmoil at ActBlue. Multiple senior officials, including in-house attorneys, resigned in quick succession in early 2025. In one resignation letter, attorney Aaron Ting said he was concerned leadership was not fully committed to transparently addressing compliance issues and prior representations to Congress regarding foreign donations.
ActBlue later parted ways with Covington & Burling. The organization has since defended the accuracy of the 2023 letter, with Wallace-Jones stating that the firm had reviewed and approved it at the time. Board chairwoman Kimberly Peeler-Allen told the Times that ActBlue strengthened its screening measures and informed Congress of the changes in a June 2025 letter from new outside counsel. She said the adjustments addressed gaps that became clearer over time, while maintaining that less than 1 percent of 2024 contributions showed indicators of foreign origin.
The controversy comes amid increased scrutiny from Republican investigators and the Justice Department. In April 2025, President Donald Trump directed the DOJ to examine the platform for potential donation fraud, including foreign contributions and straw-donor schemes.
Conservative outlets have long raised concerns about ActBlue’s practices. In 2023, New Conservative Post reported on allegations from investigative journalist James O’Keefe and citizen researchers that the platform may have enabled money laundering through straw donations, in which contributions were attributed to individuals who later denied making them or appeared to have donated at implausibly high frequencies.
A separate 2024 report from the outlet highlighted a case involving Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown’s campaign, which reportedly accepted contributions from a deceased donor, prompting a referral to the Federal Election Commission. The report also cited a Virginia investigation into suspicious ActBlue donations from senior citizens.
ActBlue has processed nearly $19 billion in contributions since its founding in 2004 and remains central to Democratic fundraising, handling small-dollar donations for thousands of candidates. The organization has characterized Republican-led probes as partisan efforts to undermine its operations, while insisting it maintains strong safeguards.
With the 2026 midterm elections approaching, any sustained disruption at ActBlue could complicate Democratic efforts to mobilize grassroots financial support. Peeler-Allen said the organization has moved beyond its internal challenges and emerged stronger.
The Justice Department’s investigation, ordered by Trump, remains ongoing, with no public report released. Congressional Republican committees continue to examine ActBlue’s fraud-prevention systems and the circumstances surrounding last year’s wave of resignations.
