CNN
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ActBlue, a fundraising juggernaut for liberal candidates and causes, is facing stepped-up scrutiny and criticism from Republicans on Capitol Hill and allies of President Donald Trump – as the GOP flexes its new power in Washington and targets one of the key pillars of the Democratic Party’s financial infrastructure.
Three Republicans in Congress – including the chairmen of the House Oversight and Administration panels – are urging Trump’s Treasury Department to share with lawmakers reports of suspicious financial transactions related to ActBlue. Other GOP lawmakers are demanding probes by Treasury and the FBI into whether the fundraising platform has helped organizations engaged in terrorism or violated federal campaign finance laws.
And billionaire Trump donor Elon Musk – who is overseeing the administration’s controversial effort to rapidly shrink the federal government – has criticized ActBlue, seeking to tie it to protests and acts of vandalism against his electric-vehicle company Tesla. He has argued, without evidence to substantiate his claims, that some prominent Democrats – including one who died in 2019 – were funding ActBlue and the protests.
“Something stinks about ActBlue,” Musk posted earlier this month on his social media platform, X.
Officials with ActBlue deny any wrongdoing.
“ActBlue has always dealt with attacks and baseless claims from the Right that are designed to undermine the power of the small-dollar donors who rely on our platform,” spokesperson Megan Hughes said in a statement in CNN. “This new, coordinated attack is different only in scale, and our team remains steadfast in defending against these bad-faith attacks.”
She said the platform would continue its “mission to expand access to political giving and ensure people-powered movements continue to thrive.”
ActBlue, a nonprofit organization, is a fundraising powerhouse for Democrats and progressive groups – helping to funnel small-dollar donations to candidates, party committees and others. In all, it has collected more than $16 billion since its founding in 2004, according to a running tally on its website.
Although it has competitors, it has long dominated processing payments online for the party. According to the platform, more than 14 million users have saved their contact and payment information with the group, allowing contributors to easily make one-click donations.
But the ramped-up criticism from Republicans comes as ActBlue has faced internal tumult – including the recent departure of several high-level staffers as first reported by The New York Times – and criticism from some Democratic consultants and others in liberal circles over whether the platform is doing enough to protect donors from deceptive tactics.
Last December, for instance, dozens of individuals and progressive groups signed an open letter to ActBlue, urging reforms – including prohibiting political committees that raise money on the platform from using misleading language in fundraising solicitations.
But some Democrats worry that – with Republicans now controlling all the levers of government in Washington – the increased scrutiny could serve as a precursor to a Republican attempt to shut down the platform entirely and undermine Democratic fundraising in future elections.
Josh Nelson, the CEO of the ad platform Civic Shout and one of the signatories of last year’s letter recommending changes to ActBlue’s policies, said his concerns about its internal practices have taken a back seat this year to his growing alarm over what he views as “illegitimate attacks” from the GOP.
“I think Republicans know that ActBlue has been an extremely effective fundraising platform for thousands of Democratic campaigns and progressive groups,” Nelson said. “They’re just trying to use power to harm their political opponents in future elections.”
“The question is how far will Republicans go?”
GOP lawmakers in recent years have increased their scrutiny of ActBlue, questioning how it guards against fraud and prevents foreigners from illegally contributing to US campaigns. Among the issued raised: ActBlue did not always require donors to add the CVV number – or card verification value – on every credit card transaction.
(ActBlue has added the CVV requirement but has said it has long used several reliable means to prevent fraud and prohibit illicit foreign contributions, including an address verification system to ensure cardholder addresses match those at the banks that issued the cards. Americans living abroad, for instance, also must include a copy of their passport photo.)
But this month has seen a slew of fresh ActBlue activity from GOP lawmakers, who are seeking executive branch probes or access to sensitive documents from Treasury, such as the “suspicious activity reports” or SARs, which financial institutions file with the agency to flag suspected cases of money laundering, fraud or other suspicious transactions.
Wisconsin GOP Rep. Bryan Steil, who oversees the House Administration Committee, and others have complained that the Biden administration provided only limited information in response to requests for the reports involving ActBlue.
He recently joined House Oversight and Accountability Committee chairman, Kentucky Rep. James Comer, and New York Rep. Nick Langworthy in a letter that seeks all suspicious activity reports mentioning ActBlue filed at any point from January 1, 2023.
It’s not clear whether Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will cooperate.
Currently, the House Administration Committee “is in communication with the Treasury Department about reviewing SARs,” a source familiar told CNN this week. A Treasury spokesperson did not comment.
Other GOP lawmakers pushing for probes of the fundraising platform include Trump allies, California Rep. Darrell Issa and Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs.
In the meantime, Democrats are trying to use the GOP scrutiny to bring in more political contributions.
“Republicans are attacking ActBlue because small-dollar donations from people like you are a major advantage for Democratic campaigns up-and-down the ballot,” read a recent fundraising email from the Democratic National Committee.
The appeal then links users to ActBlue to help Democrats “fight back.”
