Judge blocks Paxton from suing ActBlue over Talarico concerns
A federal judge on Thursday blocked Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton from suing ActBlue, citing concerns that the lawsuit is an attempt to sabotage his political rival’s campaign.
U.S. District Judge Richard Gaylore Stearns’s ruling in Massachusetts marks a loss for Paxton, who filed a lawsuit against the Democratic donor platform in April, alleging it was allowing fraudulent and foreign donations and lying about its donor vetting policies and operations.
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Stearns sided with ActBlue’s counter lawsuit, brought against Paxton in May, in his ruling, arguing that the attorney general’s litigation was little more than a “retaliatory” play against Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico. The judge suggested Paxton felt threatened by Talarico’s fundraising prowess, as the two political rivals in the U.S. Texas Senate race compete in November’s general election.
“The truth is plain and captured in Paxton’s own declarations: The lawsuit was filed in retaliation for (and in an attempt to suppress) ActBlue’s efforts to fund Talarico’s campaign,” Stearns wrote in a 15-page order. “
“The lawsuit in Texas is undoubtedly an adverse action,” he continued. “And having previously found bad faith, the court agrees with ActBlue that the evidence in the record compels the conclusion that, far from protecting Texas consumers, the action was filed in retaliation for ActBlue’s fundraising on behalf of Talarico, Paxton’s current political rival for the Senate seat.”
ActBlue, Democrats’ biggest donor platform, has long been under scrutiny from Republicans over whether vulnerabilities in its donor-vetting system have fueled illegal foreign donations, due in part to concerns it doesn’t require CVV codes on credit card donations and allows contributions through gift cards and prepaid debit cards.
“It has blatantly ignored state law that prohibits deceptive practices, and it must pay for its illegal conduct,” Paxton said in April. “Fair elections are the foundation of our democracy, and I will work to ensure no illegal campaign donation flies under the radar.”
A New York Times report published the same month fired up accusations. In internal ActBlue memos, the organization’s lawyers said nonresident foreign nationals could have used third-party payment platforms to make donations, according to the report. Also in the memos, Act Blue’s lawyers warned the company may have misled Congress regarding its efforts to block foreign donations.
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When pressed about allegedly accepting foreign payments during a House hearing on Wednesday, ActBlue’s CEO repeatedly declined to comment, invoking her Fifth Amendment rights. The development came after multiple House committees in April reported that senior ActBlue employees refused to answer a single question posed to them by a congressional panel in 2025, instead invoking their Fifth Amendment rights 146 times.
“The Fifth Amendment is one of America’s most foundational constitutional rights,” a spokesperson for the payment processor said in response to the staff report. “ActBlue employees who invoked their rights in the face of a partisan investigation are doing exactly what the founders intended. If we allow Republicans to trample on our protected rights, it will only empower them to attack more organizations and individuals they disagree with.”
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