{"id":2663999,"date":"2026-09-18T08:41:59","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T12:41:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignnew-records-suggest-act-blue-opened-the-door-wide-to-foreign-donors\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T08:44:40","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T12:44:40","slug":"utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignnew-records-suggest-act-blue-opened-the-door-wide-to-foreign-donors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignnew-records-suggest-act-blue-opened-the-door-wide-to-foreign-donors\/","title":{"rendered":"Docs: ActBlue Had &#8216;Toothless&#8217; Vetting Policies For Foreign Cash"},"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\">18<\/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%2Futm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignnew-records-suggest-act-blue-opened-the-door-wide-to-foreign-donors%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=2663999&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>A congressional report reveals that ActBlue, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-republicans-dig-into-democrat-fundraising-platforms-shady-donor-verification-process\/\" title=\"GOP investigates questionable ... verification process in Democratic ....\">prominent left-wing fundraising platform<\/a>, has mishandled allegations of foreign contributions and failed to implement effective safeguards against illegal donations. Internal documents show that ActBlue\u2019s policies to prevent foreign and fraudulent contributions are easily bypassed, with its passport verification process being ineffective.Staff were instructed to &#8220;give the benefit of the doubt&#8221; to donors, frequently enough <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >ignoring red flags indicating foreign involvement<\/a>. The platform accepted donations from countries like Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Colombia, raising concerns about compliance with campaign finance laws.<\/p>\n<p>Investigators found that ActBlue\u2019s verification methods, such as passport checks, were superficial and easily manipulated, allowing foreign actors to donate using false or expired identification. Despite claiming to take fraud seriously, the platform relied heavily on AI and manual review, rejecting less than 0.1% of donations flagged as suspicious.Internal communications revealed a permissive attitude towards accepting potentially illegal contributions and using informal verification methods.<\/p>\n<p>ActBlue&#8217;s leadership, including CEO Regina Wallace-Jones, refused to fully cooperate with congressional inquiries, often invoking the Fifth Amendment and providing little openness. The investigation indicated that some staff members warned about misconduct and violations of federal law but faced retaliation. The platform asserts its innocence and claims that investigations are politically motivated,while critics argue that its practices show a &#8220;toothless&#8221; approach to compliance. The congressional inquiry continues,with officials emphasizing the need for further investigation into ActBlue\u2019s operations and compliance with election laws.  <\/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><em>Benefit of the doubt.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s apparently the phrase that paid when it came to the left\u2019s fundraising giant\u2019s handling of potential foreign donations, according to the findings of a new congressional <a href=\"https:\/\/judiciary.house.gov\/sites\/evo-subsites\/republicans-judiciary.house.gov\/files\/2026-09\/FINAL%20ActBlue%20Staff%20Report%20III%20+%20Exhibits.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">report <\/a>into the ActBlue cash scandal. <\/p>\n<p>In their third interim report, the House Administration, Judiciary and Oversight committees have released internal ActBlue documents that expose what seems to be the left-wing organization\u2019s blas\u00e9 attitude about laws prohibiting contributions from foreign actors to political campaigns. <\/p>\n<p>Among the latest installment\u2019s key findings: <\/p>\n<p> \u2014 ActBlue\u2019s policies that allegedly \u201cprevent\u201d illegal, fraudulent political contributions could be bypassed easily by foreign actors.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014\u00a0 ActBlue\u2019s \u201cpassport verification process,\u201d which allegedly prevents illegal foreign donations, is an ineffective security method that does not actually require a valid U.S. passport number.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 ActBlue repeatedly instructed its fraud prevention analysts to \u201cgive the donor the benefit of the doubt\u201d and to ignore red flags about contributions with foreign indicators.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wish I could say that [the new records] surprise me, but in many ways this is almost what you expect,\u201d Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., chairman of the Administration Committee, said Thursday in an interview on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spreaker.com\/episode\/soundbite-rep-bryan-steil-on-the-latest-actblue-scandal--75199042\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>The Federalist Radio Hour<\/em>.<\/a> \u201cI have been engaged in this investigation now for three years and what we continue to realize is that ActBlue has not been taking fraud seriously.\u201d <\/p>\n<h2>\u2018Knowing and Willful\u2019 <\/h2>\n<p>Since launching in 2004, the cash machine for leftist politicians, groups, and causes has raised nearly $20 billion, including nearly<a href=\"https:\/\/www.actblue.com\/posts\/small-dollar-donors-shatter-records-nearly-1-8-billion-raised-in-2025\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> $1.8 billion last year.<\/a> <\/p>\n<p>The committees began looking into ActBlue\u2019s fraud prevention practices following the 2024 presidential election. Steil and majority Republicans on the Administration Committee were raising concerns and asking for answers in 2023. <\/p>\n<p>As The Federalist has <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/06\/09\/ceo-of-dems-troubled-fundraising-platform-set-to-testify-on-capitol-hill\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>, records obtained through congressional subpoenas <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/07\/23\/house-committees-issue-subpoena-to-actblue-ceo-in-donation-fraud-probe\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">confirmed<\/a> suspicions that ActBlue had accepted unverified payments during <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/08\/22\/democrats-fundraising-machine-draws-accusations-of-potentially-illegal-schemes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">record-smashing<\/a> fundraising totals for the Democrat Party\u2019s presidential replacement candidate, then-Vice President Kamala Harris, in the summer of 2024. <\/p>\n<p>Harris raised a jaw-dropping <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/kamala-harris-fundraising-100-million-biden-drops-out\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$81 million<\/a> in the 24 hours following President Joe Biden calling it quits in July 2024.\u00a0\u201cIn August, the campaign said it raised <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/video\/kamala-harris-campaign-raises-361-million-for-august\/https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/video\/kamala-harris-campaign-raises-361-million-for-august\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$361 million<\/a>, bringing the total to more than $615 million in fundraising since Harris had entered the race,\u201d CBS News <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/kamala-harris-campaign-fundraising-1-billion\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a> in October 2024.\u00a0The congressional investigation has found donations poured through the platform from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Colombia, and other countries, as The Federalist previously <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/07\/23\/house-committees-issue-subpoena-to-actblue-ceo-in-donation-fraud-probe\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>ActBlue has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.actblue.com\/posts\/the-unfiltered-truth\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">denied<\/a> wrongdoing and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.actblue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/2026.04.28-ActBlue-Letter-to-Committees.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">insists<\/a> that it has cooperated with the committees\u2019 oversight requests. In an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.actblue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/2026.04.28-ActBlue-Letter-to-Committees.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">April 28 letter,<\/a> the fundraising platform called claims that officials have impeded the congressional investigation \u201cbaseless.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>But following a New York Times <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/04\/02\/us\/politics\/actblue-democrat-fundraising-foreign-donations.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">report <\/a>on ActBlue in April, the committees found the fundraising platform had failed to turn over all requested documents. The Times reported that Dana Remus, ActBlue\u2019s outside counsel and former Biden White House counsel, drafted a memo advising that <a href=\"https:\/\/cha.house.gov\/2026\/6\/icymi-actblue-ceo-refuses-to-answer-lawmakers-questions-under-oath\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CEO Regina Wallace-Jones<\/a> may have misled Congress about the contribution collector\u2019s review processes for foreign donations and that ActBlue\u2019s acceptance of illegal foreign contributions appeared to be \u201cknowing and willful.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>\u2018Essentially Toothless\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>In 2023, Wallace-Jones had told Steil\u2019s Committee on House Administration that ActBlue\u2019s multi-layered vetting process required passport information from donors providing an address outside of the U.S. and that \u201c[o]nly donations with passport information are processed.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>But new internal documents reveal ActBlue\u2019s \u201cpassport verification\u201d system was \u201cessentially toothless,\u201d the committees report states. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe use some very basic validation \u2014 number of characters \u2014 to ensure that the number entered is a valid passport number, but we do not verify the information in any other way,\u201d an ActBlue memo notes. \u201cWe do not, for instance, check the information provided against a government database. We merely store the information and continue with the contribution flow.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure><\/figure>\n<p>The committees\u2019 report asserts the process could allow foreign actors to enter \u201cany random combination of numbers and donate to political campaigns in the United States, in violation of federal law.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Internal documents also show that ActBlue allowed employees to determine an \u201calternative method of verifying the [donor\u2019s] citizenship\u201d for donors who do not have U.S. passports. ActBlue\u2019s legal team needed to be in on the solution, the communication suggests, but employees were encouraged to put a \u201ca placeholder in the passport number field of [the donor\u2019s] ActBlue account.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The records show ActBlue accepted a contribution from a foreign donor based on copies of a Form 225-A (Card of Identity and Registration), which expired on August 27, 1974, and a birth certificate from the Detroit Health Department, but no U.S. passport.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis seems like sufficient evidence to me!\u201d a member of ActBlue\u2019s legal and compliance team wrote, according to the report. <\/p>\n<p>ActBlue supervisors told their teams to take donations even if red flags popped up. In one case, a supervisor disagreed with a fraud-prevention staffer\u2019s review of a contribution. In audit notes, the supervisor acknowledges the \u201cdonor is foreign, but correctly entered their billing address, so they would be prompted for their passport number.\u201d <\/p>\n<figure><\/figure>\n<h2>\u2018Give the Benefit of the Doubt to the Donor\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>It appears ActBlue\u2019s philosophy was, make it work somehow. <\/p>\n<p>As the committees noted in their April 2025 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/presidential-actions\/2025\/04\/investigation-into-unlawful-straw-donor-and-foreign-contributions-in-american-elections\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">report,<\/a> ActBlue was using Sift, an AI system that uses a scale to rate and determine the likelihood a donation is fraudulent. That report found ActBlue accepts 99.8 percent of contributions reviewed by the AI system. It manually reviews the rest. Altogether, the platform rejected \u201cless than 0.1 [percent] of all contributions\u201d for suspected fraud, the report stated. <\/p>\n<p>Internal records show supervisors urging flexibility in processing donations. In one communication, a supervisor wrote that a staffer should \u201cgive the benefit of the doubt to the donor\u201d despite multiple red flags. The discrepancies included \u201cIP\/billing mismatch and a concerning IP provider name, a foreign credit card, an odd email domain, and being connected to other rejected users via browser fingerprint.\u201d Still, the supervisor couldn\u2019t \u201csay for sure that this is fraud.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Records show employees were instructed to use suspect verification sources, including a donor\u2019s social media account. Review logs show a supervisor noting that \u201call signs point to [a donor] being from Canada, but they used a Missouri billing address.\u201d But the donor had an active Twitter account, so the supervisor recommended accepting the contribution. In another case, according to the report, a supervisor said there was \u201cnothing suspicious\u201d about a donor who used a prepaid card despite the fact that ActBlue <a href=\"https:\/\/www.actblue.com\/posts\/republican-legislation-proves-actblue-is-the-gold-standard\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reportedly<\/a> had banned contributions from prepaid and gift cards not long before the 2024 election. <\/p>\n<figure><\/figure>\n<h2>\u2018Clearly Not Interested in Answering\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>The report notes that Wallace-Jones\u2019 \u201crefusal to address the apparent illegal contributions or her misstatements to Congress appears to have lead every remaining member of ActBlue\u2019s internal legal and compliance team to leave the company, including former Interim General Counsel Aaron Ting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Zain Ahmad, who was reportedly the last remaining lawyer on ActBlue\u2019s legal team, attempted to warn platform officials about \u201ccredible allegations of misconduct at the company, including significant alleged violations of federal campaign finance law and false statements to Congress,\u201d the report states. He was locked out of his \u201cessential accounts,\u201d but was able to send messages through the internal Slack direct message account. There he advised that \u201cwe have Anti-Retaliation and Whistleblower Policies for a reason. The platform\u2019s human resources director deleted several of the messages, according to the report. <\/p>\n<figure><\/figure>\n<p>When she showed up to a House Administration Committee meeting in June, Wallace-Jones refused to answer committee members\u2019 questions. She made a big show of her plan beforehand in a Washington Post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/2026\/06\/10\/actblue-ceo-why-i-will-invoke-my-5th-amendment-rights-before-congress\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">op-ed<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen we had the CEO, Regina Wallace-Jones, before us, she pled the Fifth when asked what was the correct pronunciation of her name,\u201d Steil told <em>The Federalist Radio Hour<\/em>. \u201cSo they are very clearly not interested in answering very basic questions about how ActBlue operates.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>The embattled CEO has painted the committees\u2019 investigations and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=02qd0hxleEg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">another<\/a> by the Department of Justice as politically motivated. Earlier this week, The Washington Post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2026\/09\/16\/actblue-democratic-fundraising-machine-under-gop-investigation-is-fighting-back\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a> that a law firm representing the fundraising platform met with congressional investigators last week and provided a report that ActBlue insists clears it of any wrongdoing. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe must continue to stand against all efforts to undermine the grassroots infrastructure that powers the Democratic Party,\u201d ActBlue CEO Regina Wallace-Jones said in a statement to The Post.<\/p>\n<p>Steil said the investigation will continue. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cEverything remains on the table,\u201d the chairman said. \u201cI am convinced we need to make sure we are making real progress.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Listen to the full interview with Congressman Steil <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spreaker.com\/episode\/soundbite-rep-bryan-steil-on-the-latest-actblue-scandal--75199042\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here <\/a>on <em>The Federalist Radio Hour<\/em>. <\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Matt Kittle is a senior elections correspondent for The Federalist. An award-winning investigative reporter and 30-year veteran of print, broadcast, and online journalism, Kittle previously served as the executive director of Empower Wisconsin.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ActBlue&#8217;s foreign donation handling under scrutiny<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":656,"featured_media":2664000,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Screenshot-2026-09-18-at-1.51.19-AM-1024x581.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[23495,41707,85854],"class_list":["post-2663999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-actblue","tag-foreign-cash","tag-vetting-policies"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Screenshot-2026-09-18-at-1.51.19-AM-1024x581.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2663999","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\/656"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2663999"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2663999\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2664007,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2663999\/revisions\/2664007"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2664000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2663999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2663999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2663999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}