{"id":2412545,"date":"2025-03-11T16:39:02","date_gmt":"2025-03-11T20:39:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-gopers-probe-actblue-for-potentially-fraudulent-actions\/"},"modified":"2025-03-11T16:46:29","modified_gmt":"2025-03-11T20:46:29","slug":"house-gopers-probe-actblue-for-potentially-fraudulent-actions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-gopers-probe-actblue-for-potentially-fraudulent-actions\/","title":{"rendered":"House GOPers Probe ActBlue For \u2018Potentially Fraudulent&#8217; Actions"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhouse-gopers-probe-actblue-for-potentially-fraudulent-actions%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2412545&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Republican congressmen are investigating potential fraudulent financial activities through \u200dteh Democrat fundraising \u2062platform ActBlue.\u2064 Leading the inquiry are\u200b Rep. Bryan Steil, Rep. James Comer, and Rep. Nick Langworthy,who contacted Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on March 10 too request details about suspicious transactions related to money laundering \u200dand fraud\u2064 that may \u2062involve ActBlue. They expressed concerns over reports\u2062 suggesting that individuals are exploiting \u2062online contribution platforms for illegal activities. The inquiry is compounded by\u200d a wave of\u2063 resignations\u200c among ActBlue&#8217;s senior staff, indicating internal chaos.<\/p>\n<p>The congressmen have requested \u2063all &#8220;Suspicious Activity Reports&#8221; related\u2063 to ActBlue since January 1, \u20642023, as part of their efforts \u2062to ensure \u2062election security and adherence to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/march-for-our-lives-issue-biden-1-billion-list-of-gun-control-policy-demands\/\" title=\"March For Our Lives Issue ...  Billion List Of Gun Control Policy Demands\">campaign finance laws<\/a>. Past attempts to\u2062 get information \u2062from the Biden Administration were met with delays, prompting the current request for\u2062 openness.<\/p>\n<p>ActBlue is also facing scrutiny from 19 state \u200dattorneys general,and allegations\u200c of fraudulent contributions made \u2063without the donors&#8217; awareness\u200d may violate federal law. Congressional Republicans have raised alarms about the potential for foreign interference in U.S. elections, with the House Speaker calling for broader investigations into\u200c ActBlue&#8217;s practices, \u2062which had <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">previously included <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/this-is-illegal-speaker-calls-for-investigation-into-actblue\/\" title=\"&#039;This Is ILLEGAL&#039;: Speaker Calls For Investigation Into ActBlue\">accepting foreign gift cards<\/a><\/a>.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Republican congressmen are seeking answers about &ldquo;potentially fraudulent and illicit financial activity&rdquo; through the Democrat fundraising platform ActBlue. Meanwhile, top officials are fleeing the company.<\/p>\n<p>Republicans Rep. Bryan Steil, chairman of the Committee on House Administration, Rep. James Comer, chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Rep. Nick Langworthy <a href=\"https:\/\/oversight.house.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/2025-03-10-Letter-to-Treasury-on-ActBlue.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wrote<\/a> Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on March 10, seeking information about suspicious activity through ActBlue.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The Committees remain concerned with recent reports suggesting fraud and evasion of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/google-expands-security-efforts-ahead-of-2022-elections\/\" title=\"Google Expands Security Efforts Ahead of 2022 Elections\">campaign finance law<\/a> by individuals exploiting online contribution platforms, especially ActBlue,&rdquo; they wrote in the letter to Bessent.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The congressmen requested all &ldquo;Suspicious Activity Reports,&rdquo; &ldquo;filed or relating to transactions&rdquo; since Jan. 1, 2023, containing the term &ldquo;ActBlue,&rdquo; &ldquo;which relate to money laundering, counterfeit credit\/debit card, credit card or debit card fraud, false statements, wire transfer fraud, or identity theft.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>ActBlue is currently fraught with &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/05\/us\/politics\/actblue-democrat-fundraising-resignations.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">internal chaos<\/a>,&rdquo; according to The New York Times. The platform&rsquo;s &ldquo;senior staff&rdquo; began resigning in late February, with seven top officials leaving the platform and &ldquo;a remaining lawyer suggesting he faced internal retaliation.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Steil said in a statement to The Federalist that he is &ldquo;committed to making our elections more secure.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Our investigation into ActBlue has revealed that there have been weaknesses in our online campaign finance systems, and we need to implement key safeguards,&rdquo; Steil said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m eager to review the Suspicious Activity Reports from the Treasury Department soon.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Steil, Comer, and Langworthy said in the letter that it is &ldquo;crucial&rdquo; to review the documents soon to &ldquo;determine whether legislation is needed&rdquo; to uphold campaign finance laws and &ldquo;guard against illicit foreign influence or other illegal activities in U.S. elections.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h2>Potential Fraud and Interference<\/h2>\n<p>The Committee on House Administration and Committee on Oversight and Government Reform initially sought answers during the previous Congress, but former President Joe Biden&rsquo;s Treasury stalled in complying, according to the letter.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Although the Biden Administration initially stalled the Committees&rsquo; requests in its entirety for months, on January 2, 2025, Treasury allowed the Committees to review only limited documents,&rdquo; the letter reads. &ldquo;We write to request Treasury, in its commitment to transparency and cooperation, provide both Committees with the remaining records relevant to our investigations.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>ActBlue only began requiring <a href=\"https:\/\/www.texasattorneygeneral.gov\/news\/releases\/investigation-actblue-attorney-general-ken-paxton-uncovers-large-number-suspicious-donations-made#:~:text=In%20August%202024%2C%20Attorney%20General,codes%2C%20a%20common%20security%20measure.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">safeguards<\/a> such as a card verification value, or CVV, following heightened scrutiny late last year. These are &ldquo;standard procedures to guard against identity theft and fraud,&rdquo; according to the letter. <\/p>\n<p>The attorneys general of 19 states have launched <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theohiopressnetwork.com\/news\/us\/probe-into-whether-democrats-use-actblue-platform-to-cheat-at-fundraising-expands-to-19-states\/article_f08f9338-8655-11ef-9313-67fc42410494.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawI9RqpleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHRM0BFZNGG6lUKZAmHOhjp_SoWfEzVuUVvfhw8t8R6TgI7b-XZRGH8QuPg_aem_FVuP_06kxGnRWzPFDgvq0Q\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">investigations<\/a> into ActBlue. Steil sent <a href=\"https:\/\/cha.house.gov\/_cache\/files\/f\/0\/f00f85ea-2364-486f-9442-17e161d7f706\/D0959128ED1C638681D5B44ABB678FC8.state-ag-letters.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">letters<\/a> to the attorneys general of Arkansas, Florida, Missouri, Texas, and Virginia in September, updating them on the committee&rsquo;s investigation into ActBlue and providing them with data and evidence.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The organization is also the subject of several state-level investigations stemming from allegedly fraudulent contributions made via the platform without the reported contributors&rsquo; awareness &mdash; serious allegations that, if proven true, would violate federal law,&rdquo; the congressmen wrote in their letter to Bessent.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to congressional investigation, ActBlue faces a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/05\/us\/politics\/actblue-democrat-fundraising-resignations.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wave<\/a> of departures among its top officials. ActBlue&rsquo;s chief revenue officer, associate general counsel (its top legal officer), &ldquo;customer service and partnerships directors,&rdquo; assistant research director, an engineer who helped develop &ldquo;the electronic pipes through which the group&rsquo;s donations flow,&rdquo; and a human resources official left the group beginning on Feb. 21. Meanwhile, a remaining lawyer advised staff that his access to email and internal platforms had been cut off &mdash; and reminded his coworkers that &ldquo;we have Anti-Retaliation and Whistleblower Policies for a reason.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Congressional Republicans have been investigating ActBlue for months. As The Federalist previously <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/10\/31\/house-republicans-subpoena-actblue-records-over-alleged-foreign-election-interference-activities\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>, Steil <a href=\"https:\/\/cha.house.gov\/_cache\/files\/0\/7\/0756f87e-e6d2-41b0-a221-de9c3e3607e5\/37460F2145EC0A73A8B4A4FF9DB6BB5B.updated-oct-29-final-subpoena-cover-letter---wallace-jones.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">subpoenaed<\/a> ActBlue CEO Regina Wallace-Jones in October, demanding &ldquo;documents and communications related to ActBlue&rsquo;s donor verification policies and the potential for foreign actors, primarily from Iran, Russia, Venezuela, and China, to use ActBlue to launder illicit money into U.S. political campaigns.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>After Biden was <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/07\/24\/democrats-forced-joe-biden-to-drop-out-how-did-they-do-it\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">forced out<\/a> of his bid for reelection in July 2024, then-Vice President Kamala Harris <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/08\/22\/democrats-fundraising-machine-draws-accusations-of-potentially-illegal-schemes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">raked in<\/a> record-breaking hundreds of millions of dollars through ActBlue &mdash; more than $80 million in the first 24 hours and $310 million that month, The Federalist reported at the time.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>This <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/08\/22\/democrats-fundraising-machine-draws-accusations-of-potentially-illegal-schemes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">drew attention<\/a> to ActBlue&rsquo;s fundraising practices and raised alarms about potential &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.investopedia.com\/terms\/s\/smurf.asp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">smurfing<\/a>&rdquo; &mdash; a criminal practice that consists of dividing large transactions into smaller ones to avoid legal reporting requirements, obscuring the <a href=\"https:\/\/chroniclesmagazine.org\/web\/smurfing-is-corrupting-american-elections\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">identity<\/a> of the donor. As The Federalist reported, Republican Sen. Ron Johnson has been calling attention to &ldquo;smurfing&rdquo; through ActBlue for <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/10\/24\/lawmakers-to-issue-subpoenas-over-alleged-actblue-foreign-election-interference-scheme\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">years<\/a>, pointing out foreign actors could use the system to influence American elections under the radar.<\/p>\n<p>Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson called for <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/12\/12\/this-is-illegal-speaker-johnson-calls-for-further-investigation-into-democrats-fundraising-machine\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wider investigations<\/a> of ActBlue in December. &ldquo;ActBlue was accepting foreign gift cards until September. This is ILLEGAL,&rdquo; he posted to X.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<blockquote data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<div lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<p>BREAKING: ActBlue was accepting foreign gift cards until September. <\/p>\n<p>This is ILLEGAL.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HouseAdmin?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@HouseAdmin<\/a> Committee will continue this important investigation into ActBlue next Congress. <\/p>\n<p>Our work here is just getting started. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ffDc5I7j4H\">https:\/\/t.co\/ffDc5I7j4H<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&mdash; Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SpeakerJohnson\/status\/1866879385846026553?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 11, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span> <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>At the time, Steil <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/12\/12\/this-is-illegal-speaker-johnson-calls-for-further-investigation-into-democrats-fundraising-machine\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a> that &ldquo;there is still more work to be done to ensure our campaign finance system is fully protected from fraud and unlawful foreign interference.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Logan Washburn is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lawsuit-clark-county-keeps-commercial-addresses-on-voter-rolls\/\" title=\"Lawsuit: Clark County Keeps Commercial Addresses On Voter Rolls\">staff writer covering election integrity<\/a>. He is a spring 2025 fellow of The College Fix. He graduated from Hillsdale College, served as Christopher Rufo&#8217;s editorial assistant, and has bylines in The Wall Street Journal, The Tennessean, and The Daily Caller. Logan is from Central Oregon but now lives in rural Michigan.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Republicans are investigating potential fraud linked to ActBlue<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":507,"featured_media":2412546,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/CapitolDusk_2.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[23495,33926,42812,32455,51950],"class_list":["post-2412545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-actblue","tag-campaign-finance","tag-fraud-investigation","tag-house-gop","tag-political-funds"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/CapitolDusk_2.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2412545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/507"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2412545"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2412545\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2412553,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2412545\/revisions\/2412553"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2412546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2412545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2412545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2412545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}