Donald Trump signed a memorandum on Thursday directing Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate online fundraising platforms in order to crack down on illegal "straw donors" (those who make donations in the name of others) and foreign donations made to U.S. elections.
Almost immediately, there was outrage by Democrats. Also, panic.
“The Trump Administration’s and GOP’s targeting of ActBlue is part of their brazen attack on democracy in America,” the organization said in a statement. “Today’s escalation by the White House is blatantly unlawful and needs to be seen for what it is: Donald Trump’s latest front in his campaign to stamp out all political, electoral and ideological opposition.”
Then came the panic.
They are freaking out. pic.twitter.com/dTRs3KNZ6H
— Betsee (@Betsee_B) April 24, 2025
Reminds me of cockroaches scurrying around after someone turns over a piece of garbage.
Of course, Trump didn't do anything to "shut down" ActBlue, but don't tell them that.
And they should panic. Since ActBlue was founded in 2004, there have been numerous complaints of illegal foreign donations and "straw donations" being accepted. The 2012 Obama campaign received the biggest fine in Federal Election Commission history for accepting foreign donations, largely collected by ActBlue.
The platform has processed nearly $16 billion since 2004, making it indispensable for funneling cash to candidates and causes that make the left-wing ecosphere function.
This investigation is long overdue. Republicans in Congress recently released an interim report on ActBlue's illegal fundraising, and while the organization has taken some steps since the 2012 Obama campaign, there are still gaping holes in its oversight.
Trump’s action marks the latest assault on the platform from Republicans. Congressional Republicans have been investigating ActBlue, alleging that it does not adequately safeguard against fraud – a charge that ActBlue officials have denied. And earlier this month, three GOP-led House committees issued an interim staff report that argued the nonprofit organization had not done enough to address threats to the platform by foreign and domestic “fraudulent actors.”
The report argued that while ActBlue has updated some of its practices – such as no longer accepting gift cards for donations and requiring donors to add a CVV, the three- or four-digit number found on the back of a credit card, when submitting contributions – that the group’s “general attitude towards fraud prevention is unserious.”
Wisconsin GOP Rep. Bryan Steil – who chairs the House Administration Committee, one of the panels investigating ActBlue – called the memo “a big step in the fight to prevent foreign bad actors from funneling illicit money into our elections.”
In March, the organization, perhaps sensing what was coming, descended into chaos when seven key staffers resigned, leaving the organization wondering about the future.
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The exodus began on February 21 with the resignation of ActBlue’s customer service and partnerships directors. Both employees had worked at the organization for more than a decade.
The next week, several other senior officials left, including the associate general counsel — who was the highest-ranking legal officer at ActBlue — the assistant research director, a human resources official, the chief revenue officer and an engineer who had spent 16 years building and maintaining the electronic pipes through which the group’s donations flow.
As these people left, Zain Ahmad, who was the last remaining lawyer in the ActBlue general counsel’s office, wrote in an internal Slack message on Feb. 26 that his access to email and other internal platforms had been cut off and that other messages he had posted in Slack had been deleted, according to a screenshot obtained by The New York Times. Mr. Ahmad is now on leave from ActBlue, according to a person briefed on the group’s staffing.
This is pure speculation, but it sounds as if some key staffers are concerned about their legal exposure with regard to the practices of ActBlue in raising money from questionable sources. I don't think Bondi would have been brought in unless there's something to investigate. This is not a fishing expedition.
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