Congressional Committee Expands Investigation into ActBlue

A committee in the United States House of Representatives is expanding the scope of its ongoing investigation into ActBlue, the fundraising juggernaut that has funneled millions into Democratic campaigns and other far-left causes.

As reported by Fox News, the Committee on House Administration, chaired by Congressman Bryan Steil (R-Wisc.), is investigating the fundraiser after accusations of widespread fraud and actively circumventing campaign finance laws.

On Monday, Congressman Steil sent a letter to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), demanding that the agency “immediately initiate an emergency rulemaking to require political campaigns to verify the card verification value (‘CVV’) of donors who contribute online using a credit or debit card, and to prohibit political campaigns from accepting online contributions from a gift card or other prepaid credit cards.”

“Following widespread allegations of fraudulent donations being reported to the FEC by ActBlue, one of the largest fundraising platforms in the country, this emergency rulemaking is necessary to reassure the American people that ActBlue is taking the necessary steps to protect its donors,” Steil continued.

Steil says that whistleblowers have come to his committee, alleging that ActBlue has avoided using CVV numbers to verify donations, thus making it easier to approve payments and recurring payments. Whistleblowers have also claimed that numerous donations have allegedly come from retirees. Another claim suggests that one individual has made hundreds of donations of just $2.50 with each transaction.

Whistleblowers have further asserted that prepaid gift cards and credit cards have been used to launder money through ActBlue by passing them off as campaign contributions, which would mark a clear violation of campaign finance laws.

The issue of prepaid cards in particular, Steil writes, presents the “very real possibility that straw donors are making campaign donations with funds provided by another person or an unlawful donor including a foreign national. These issues present a serious loophole to the transparency and integrity of the campaign donation process, and an emergency rulemaking is required to rectify these issues.”

In addition to payment without a CVV number, ActBlue also accepts donations through alternative payment methods such as Venmo, PayPal, and Google Pay.

The congressional investigation follows similar investigations against ActBlue by several Republican attorneys general, including from the states of Virginia, Missouri, and Wyoming.

ActBlue released its own statement on the matter, asserting that “this investigation is nothing more than a partisan political attack and scare tactic to undermine the power of Democratic and progressive small-dollar donors. We welcome the opportunity to respond to these frivolous claims.”