by Casey Harper
A top Democratic donation processor, Act Blue, is facing an investigation over concerns that the donation processing service is being used to circumvent campaign finance laws.
The Republican-led House Oversight Committee launched the investigation, citing “reports of potentially fraudulent and illicit financial activity” in a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
The lawmakers ask Yellen for copies of financial suspicious activity reports related to ActBlue, which serves as an online catch-all processor for online donations to Democratic candidates.
From the letter:
Recent reports have raised the specter of fraud and evasion of campaign finance law by individuals exploiting online contribution platforms, especially ActBlue. For example, ActBlue had not implemented standard procedures to guard against identity theft and fraud such as requiring a Card Verification Value (CVV) to process online transactions until it received criticism for not doing so. ActBlue is also being investigated by several states’ officials in relation to contributions allegedly made via the platform fraudulently without the reported contributor’s awareness. In Virginia, reports of contribution activity facilitated through the ActBlue platform included “some cases in which single donors made tens of thousands of separate donations worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares said in August that he is investigating reports of misuse of ActBlue after reports of “dummy” accounts being used to make thousands of donations, allegedly by criminal sources.
Donating in the name of someone else is illegal and can be used to circumvent oversight and caps on contributions.
“These bad actors could include foreign nationals not lawfully admitted for permanent residence who are prohibited by statute from contributing to campaigns or political parties,” the letter adds.
Since allegations of Russian involvement and voter fraud has escalated in recent federal elections, oversight and scrutiny of possible foreign interference in U.S. elections has increased for both Republicans and Democrats.
Act Blue did not respond to a request for comment.
“We can’t tolerate shady practices, foreign interference, and blatant exploitation of our campaign finance laws,” Rep. Nick Langworthy, R-N.Y., wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “The American people deserve to know who’s really behind these contributions. ActBlue has been funneling questionable donations into Democrat campaigns for far too long, raising serious concerns about fraud and illegal contribution…”
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Casey Harper is a Washington, D.C. bureau reporter at The Center Square.
Photo “Act Blue Donation Platform” by Act Blue.
