Congressional probes have unearthed troubling changes to donation policies by ActBlue, the leading Democratic fundraising platform, during the 2024 election cycle. Modified donation standards at ActBlue have reportedly led to increased fraudulent contributions, including those from foreign entities, to Democrat candidates.
Just The News reported that the investigation, spearheaded by three House Committees, delved into ActBlue's policies and its relationship with its fraud-prevention contractor, Sift.
The scrutiny was driven by adjustments made to the platform's donation verification processes, which were found to be less stringent than in previous years.
Initially, ActBlue adjusted its donation acceptance policies twice throughout the 2024 election cycle. These changes came under heavy criticism after internal company documents suggested a more permissive approach to handling contributions that did not strictly require CVV numbers for credit card transactions.
The implications of the relaxed policies were significant, leading to an assessed increase in suspicious contributions. According to an internal review by ActBlue, between 14 and 28 likely fraudulent donations were identified monthly following the policy changes.
An internal memo highlighted concerns with specific donations. For example, contributions ostensibly from Brazilian donors to the Center for American Progress Action Fund were flagged as unlikely.
The magnitude of the oversight became more apparent with the discovery of several hundred questionable donations from countries as varied as Brazil, Colombia, India, Iraq, the Philippines, and Saudi Arabia. Alarmingly, ActBlue recorded up to 1,900 dubious transactions from September 2022 through November 2024.
Comments from the congressional interim report criticized ActBlue's casual approach. "Internal documents produced to the Committees by ActBlue and Sift demonstrate a lack of commitment to stopping fraud," the report observed, hinting at a systemic issue within ActBlue's operations.
"Put simply, the documents reflect a fundamentally unserious approach to fraud prevention at ActBlue—one that has left the door open for large-scale fraud campaigns on Democrats’ top fundraising platform," stated the interim report. This commentary underscores the potential scale and impact of the irregularities on the integrity of the election process.
The committees' further analysis suggested potential violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA), hinting at criminal liability for accepting contributions under pretenses or from ineligible foreign donors.
"At best, ActBlue’s conduct displays a profound disrespect for the principle that only Americans should decide American elections. At worst, it may violate FECA," the report outlined, emphasizing the grave implications of such breaches on democratic processes.
The investigations have painted a grim picture of complacency within ActBlue, with repeated instances of questionable donations not leading to significant corrective measures.
"Altogether, ActBlue’s internal documents and communications paint a damning picture: despite repeated instances of fraudulent donations to Democrat campaigns and causes from domestic and foreign sources, ActBlue is not demonstrating a serious effort to deter fraud on its platform," the committees noted with concern.
This situation highlights a critical oversight in the enforcement of campaign finance laws, potentially risking the integrity of election funding and the broader implications for electoral transparency and fairness.
This discovery is ironic considering the shrieking from Democrats about foreign election interference. It turns out that Democrats are the ones knowingly benefiting from foreign influence via shady donations.