Democrat fundraising behemoth in legal trouble
ActBlue is one more brick in the “Blue Wall” giving way under scandal.
The warm-fuzzy marketing appeal of ActBlue to attract Democrat “small donors” has turned into the party’s worst nightmare: It is now being accused of operating a “money-laundering operation” as the Democrat party’s main fundraising platform, according to Republican lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee.
Suspicions surfaced when small donor funds reached billions with the math failing to add up.
“We are investigating potentially fraudulent and illicit financial activity” in connection with ActBlue’s network of on-line platforms, read a letter addressed to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen by Republican lawmakers Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Rep. Nick Langworthy (R-NY). The lawmakers highlighted “concerns about fraud and evasion of campaign finance laws” traced to ActBlue’s trail of contributions for “causes” and “campaigns.”
The “non-profit” has now drawn the attention of other Republican leaders. “I think billionaires were flooding funds into ActBlue(‘s),” sophisticated on-line network,” reported former U.S. attorney general Jeff Clark. “You had people earning $2,000 per month, or unemployed, contributing 100,000s of dollars. It didn’t make any sense.”
Among the first to throw a spotlight on the possible financial malfeasance was James O’Keefe, filmmaker and founder of Project Veritas. O’Keefe alleged that small donor names and addresses (many fraudulent) were recycled thousands of times for small amounts which eventually ballooned into hundreds of thousands. He added: “small donors had unwittingly contributed” to the alleged financial malfeasance, not knowing their modest donations were being padded into hundreds of thousands of dollars.
He must have hit a sensitive nerve with ActBlue: The denials started to flood in along with attacks on the filmmaker in late 2024.
“The way that it’s described (donors) seems on its face to be, at best, not very careful and at worst deceptive as the date that’s produced,” according to Adav Noti, senior vice president and legal director for the Washington D.C.-based Campaign Legal Center. Apparently, Mr. Noti was not impressed with “Mr. O’Keefe’s video featuring an Annapolis resident who allegedly made more than 3,000 donations to ActBlue totaling more than $32,000 since 2020,” according to an article published by the news site “Maryland Matters.”
Ironically, attempts to discredit O’Keefe served to reinforce his initial findings. Noti and his colleagues conducted a “more precise search of the Annapolis resident’s contributions and discovered “less activity.” The retiree in question “made 2,213 donations to ActBlue totaling $21,739.64 during the same period,” according Maryland Matters. That doesn’t appear to be too great a disparity from the initial reporting. One might think a retiree making 2,213 donations would raise a few red flags.
This startling scenario, featuring the retiree and other “donors,” was of greater concern to a group of Republican lawmakers: In April, they requested the State Board of Elections investigate claims made in O’Keefe’s privately-funded project.
“The allegations in the complaint are outside the scope of the enforcement powers of the State Board,” Jared DeMarinis, director of candidacy and campaign finance, wrote in his letter responding to the request.
Noti, who cast doubt on O’Keefe’s project, can take comfort in knowing what he characterized as not “very careful” reporting by the filmmaker will undergo severe scrutiny by legislators in the Trump Administration.
ActBlue put on a brave face, asserting: “Like many organizations, as we undergo some transition heading into this new election cycle, we are focused on ensuring we have a strong team in place,” ActBlue spokeswoman Megan Hughes announced to the media.
There wasn’t any mention of possible financial wrongdoing taking place at the behemoth fundraising organization.
When the suspicions first surfaced in late 2024, ActBlue’s CEO went above-and-beyond in issuing an airtight denial, pointing the finger at outside parties. “These claims resemble those from an outside disinformation campaign propagating false information on social media,” asserted Ms. Regina Wallace Jones in a statement to the media. She added: “They (allegations) are designed to intimidate donors and mislead the public.”
At this time, Ms. Jones isn’t issuing additional denials to the media.
No one has officially connected the dots, but the sudden stampede of ActBlue’s top executives fleeing for the exit has coincided with the launch of the Republican lawmakers’ investigations. (This now includes Missouri attorney general Andrew Bailey).
Perhaps ActBlue executives caught a glimpse of the letter written to the Department of the Treasury by Republican lawmakers. “The (Republican) Committee writes to request the Treasury make available to the Committee certain Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) relevant to the Committee’s investigation.”
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