Money is the lifeblood of any political campaign.
Democrats have been raising big bucks up and down the ballot.
And James Comer blew the whistle on a money scandal that leads to Kamala Harris.
James Comer investigates Democrats’ main fundraising platform
ActBlue is the main fundraising platform used by Democrat political candidates and causes.
It’s the one-the-stop shop for a Democrat looking to make a political contribution.
A donor makes a contribution on ActBlue, and it processes the credit card payment before sending the money to the candidate or cause.
Every Democrat candidate, from Vice President Kamala Harris to the State Legislature, is fundraising through ActBlue.
House Republicans are investigating ActBlue to see if it’s being used for straw donations – donations that are illegally made in another person’s name, often to get around contribution limits.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) asked Department of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in a letter for any Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) involving ActBlue from January 2023 to the present.
Financial institutions file SARs with the Treasury Department to flag suspicious activity and financial crimes.
Comer cited suspicious activities like “money laundering, counterfeit credit/debit card, credit card or debit card fraud, false statements, wire transfer fraud, or identity theft.”
Suspected Democrat fraud with fundraising platform
“Federal law prohibits contributions made in the name of another person, and for good reason,” Comer wrote Yellen. “The Committee is concerned that failure to properly vet contributions made through online platforms may have allowed bad actors to more easily commit fraud to illegally exploit and violate federal campaign finance laws.”
The House Administration Committee has opened an investigation into ActBlue, and the fundraising platform is being investigated by Republican state attorneys general.
“In Virginia, reports of contribution activity facilitated through the ActBlue platform included ‘some cases in which single donors made tens of thousands of separate donations worth hundreds of thousands of dollars,’” Comer wrote, citing reporting by the Washington Examiner.
Unsuspecting people reported having hundreds of donations made in their name on the fundraising platform.
ActBlue doesn’t require the Card Verification Value (CVV) – the three-digit code on credit and debit cards – for online transactions.
That opens the door for foreign nationals or people who hit the contribution limit to a candidate to make donations through prepaid debit cards.
Both of which are illegal under federal law.
House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil (R-WI) asked the Federal Election Commission (FEC) in August to issue new rules requiring increased verification for credit and debit card donations.
“Following widespread allegations of fraudulent donations being reported to the FEC by ActBlue, one of the largest fundraising platforms in the country, this emergency rule-making is necessary to reassure the American people that ActBlue is taking the necessary steps to protect its donors,” Steil wrote the FEC.
“These issues present a serious loophole to the transparency and integrity of the campaign donation process, and an emergency rule-making is required to rectify these issues,” Steil added.
Democrat candidates raised more than $2.2 billion through ActBlue during the 2021-22 election cycle, according to Open Secrets.
The lack of security on ActBlue raises questions about who can make a donation to support Democrats on the platform.
Stay tuned to Unmuzzled News for any updates to this ongoing story.
