President Donald Trump on Thursday signed a new directive that, if it leads where many Republicans believe it will, could lead to a massive round of arrests involving the Democratic Party’s most-used fundraising platform. And frankly, it’s way past time that this happened.
ActBlue, the Democratic Party’s primary platform for campaign donations, is now under scrutiny following a new presidential memo instructing U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to address the alleged influx of foreign money into U.S. elections. Federal campaign finance laws strictly prohibit noncitizens from contributing to political candidates. The order is widely viewed as a direct move against ActBlue, which Republicans have criticized for insufficient safeguards in verifying whether donors are U.S. citizens.
Trump’s directive came as little surprise to top Democrats, who had been bracing for weeks in anticipation of such an action. In a letter to fellow party leaders, ActBlue CEO Regina Wallace-Jones wrote, “Nothing will deter or interrupt ActBlue’s mission and work to enable millions of Americans to participate in our democracy. There is an ongoing and persistent effort to weaken the confidence of the American people in what’s possible. This is the next version of ‘the big lie.’”
On Thursday, ActBlue told Politico, “ActBlue plays a vital role in enabling all Americans to participate in our democracy and the organization strictly abides by all federal and state laws governing its activities. We will always stand steadfast in defending the rights of all Americans to participate in our democracy and ActBlue will continue its mission undeterred and uninterrupted, providing a safe, secure fundraising platform for the millions of grassroots donors who rely on us.”
Blah, blah, blah. For years — yes, years (investigative journalist James O’Keefe was onto this scandal in 2023) — Republicans have rightly suspected that ActBlue was allegedly funneling illegal funds through the platform to Democratic candidates. As then-Sen. Marco Rubio wrote in a letter to Joe Biden’s Federal Elections Commission in April 2023, to no avail:
Two weeks ago, alarming reports emerged of fraudulent donations being reported to the FEC by ActBlue. These reports indicate that numerous individuals, including senior citizens, have purportedly donated to ActBlue thousands of times a year. However, according to recent investigative reports, many of these individuals had no idea that their names and addresses were being used to give thousands of dollars in political donations, with most of these ‘donations’ going to ActBlue.
In knowing that foreign actors use fake accounts to exploit donation systems that do not have robust verification processes and systems in place, most individual campaigns and political action committees (PACs) require CVV numbers as part of making an online donation. However, in breaking with most organizations, ActBlue does not require CVV numbers as a requirement for donating, and thus lending itself as a facilitator of fraud.
Now, Trump’s new directive builds upon a Republican-led congressional investigation into the authenticity of donors that use the platform. Rep. Bryan Steil (R-WI), chair of the House Committee on Administration, sent a letter to ActBlue last October requesting information and documentation on how the platform verifies the identity of its donors—particularly those contributing five- or six-figure amounts that could significantly influence the outcome of an election.
Two months later, Steil said his pressure had forced ActBlue to adopt measures that will “automatically reject donations that use foreign prepaid/gift cards, domestic gift cards, are from high-risk/sanctioned countries, and have the highest level of risk as determined.” They are a “positive step forward,” he said, but there “is still more work to be done.” But apparently, this delayed effort is too little, too late. Trump has put Bondi on the case, meaning now might be a good time for ActBlue patrons and management to lawyer up.
