House Panel Reveals Top Democrat Fundraiser ActBlue May Have Illegally 'Funneled Donations' From China, Russia

On Monday, the House Administration Committee demanded answers from ActBlue CEO Regina Wallace-Jones into how the Democrat fundraising organization receives and processes donations after the Republican-led committee found evidence that ActBlue has accepted illegal donations from China, Russia, Iran, and Venezuela.

In a letter sent to Wallace-Jones by Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil (R-PA), the Republican lawmaker demanded information about the fundraising giant's verification policies. “Our investigation has indicated that these [foreign] actors may be exploiting existing U.S. [sic] donors by making straw donations without the individuals’ or your platform’s knowledge," Steil wrote. “This failure to verify donor identity may have allowed foreign actors to fraudulently participate in the political process.”

According to The New York Post, the committee's findings come after ActBlue admitted to the committee that it had not been requiring the use of card verification codes (CVV) for debit and credit cards when making donations to Democrat candidates. However, pressure from Republican officials forced the organization to change that policy.

"Democrat donor platform ActBlue may have ILLEGALLY funneled donations from China, Russia, Iran, Venezuela, and other countries in the names of Americans—without their consent," Speaker Johnson (R-LA) wrote on X. "The @HouseAdmin Committee is working to get the American people answers they DESERVE."

As previously reported by the DC Enquirer, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R-TX) filed a petition for rulemaking with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), calling on the federal agency to take action to ensure that ActBlue is not able to circumvent federal elections law by using false identities and untraceable payment methods to limit the tracking of donations.

"Our investigation into ActBlue has uncovered facts indicating that bad actors can illegally interfere in American elections by disguising political donations. It is imperative that the FEC close off the avenues we have identified by which foreign contributions or contributions in excess of legal limits could be unlawfully funneled to political campaigns, bypassing campaign finance regulations and compromising our electoral system," Attorney General Paxton explained. "I am calling on the FEC to immediately begin rulemaking to secure our elections from any criminal actors exploiting these vulnerabilities." Paxton's office explained that bad actors could easily "illegally funnel foreign money into American elections, exceed political contribution limits, and more."

ActBlue serves as the key fundraising organization for the Democratic Party with $2.2 billion flowing through the organization in the 2021-2022 election cycle, according to Open Secrets. Several state attorney generals, including Ken Paxton and Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares (R-VA), have launched investigations into the organization over fears that lack of donor verification has resulted in fraud.

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