By In a move that would be financially disastrous for Democrats, President Donald Trump signed an executive memorandum instructing the Department of Justice to investigate ActBlue, the leading fundraising platform for liberal candidates, amid allegations of unlawful political contributions.
The release specifically named ActBlue and directs Attorney General Pam Bondi to determine whether online fundraising platforms are facilitating illegal activities such as “straw” donations — where contributions are improperly attributed to multiple individuals — and foreign donations that would violate federal election law.
The Memorandum directs the Attorney General to investigate and take appropriate action concerning allegations regarding the use of online fundraising platforms to make “straw” or “dummy” contributions and to make foreign contributions to U.S. political candidates and committees, all of which break the law.
Specifically, the Memorandum notes that a congressional investigation revealed significant fraud schemes using ActBlue and, over a 30-day period during the 2024 election cycle, hundreds of ActBlue donations from foreign IP addresses using prepaid cards, despite it being illegal for foreign nationals to contribute to U.S. elections.
Recently uncovered evidence suggests that online fundraising platforms are being used to launder excessive and prohibited contributions to political candidates and committees.
Bad actors have sought to evade Federal source and amount limitations by breaking down large contributions into smaller ones, often attributing them to numerous individuals without their consent or knowledge.
These “straw donations” are frequently made through “dummy” accounts, using methods such as gift cards or prepaid credit cards to avoid detection.
ActBlue is notorious for having almost no standards in how it takes money online, allowing unverifiable and fraud.
Over the past year, investigations revealed that many of those who have donated up to hundreds to thousands of dollars over several thousand donations on ActBlue have been made under stolen identities.
The New York Post noted earlier in the month that “ActBlue approved ‘more lenient’ standards during the last presidential campaign cycle, according to internal records obtained by The Post, which revealed hundreds of dubious contributions — including ones from ‘foreign IP’ addresses, leading Republicans to cry foul.
‘[D]espite repeated instances of fraudulent donations to Democrat campaigns and causes from domestic and foreign sources, ActBlue is not demonstrating a serious effort to deter fraud on its platform,’ a 478-page report from members of the House Oversight and Administration Committees staff declared.
Until last year, the liberal fundraising juggernaut did not mandate a card verification value (CVV) for debit, credit or prepaid gift card transactions.
Also, in the middle of the election year, ActBlue employees were told to ‘look for reasons to accept contributions.’”
There has been little justification for their lax security outside of “Republicans are bad and we have to stop them.”
ActBlue has been a crucial infrastructure for Democratic fundraising for years, providing an accessible way for individuals and nonprofits to donate while charging a processing fee of just under 4 percent. It has become the standard platform for Democratic candidates nationwide.
Democratic organizations quickly condemned Trump’s executive action for taking on their shady donation website. In a joint statement, the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Governors Association argued that the administration was attempting to suppress democratic engagement, particularly targeting small-dollar donors who typically contribute modest sums such as $5 or $10 to candidates opposing Trump’s policies. They contended that the move seeks to silence grassroots opposition and consolidate power among wealthy elites already influential within Trump’s administration.
Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers have intensified their scrutiny of ActBlue. Earlier this month, Republican leaders from three House committees published a report alleging internal failures at the platform, including claims of fraud and insufficient legal oversight. They warned that ActBlue’s alleged inability to detect fraudulent activity might amount to violations of federal election laws.
Adding to the pressure, Elon Musk, a vocal Trump ally, has repeatedly criticized ActBlue on his platform, Twitter. In one post earlier this year, Musk seemed to blame “ActBlue-funded groups” for protests against his company, Tesla.
The near entirety of the Tesla protests have been a coordinated attack by professional activists.
The spokesperson added that ActBlue plans to challenge the directive in court.
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