House investigating whether foreign money flowing into Democrat coffers
Rep. Bryan Steil said he identified two loopholes used by ActBlue donors and “my concern is individuals outside of the jurisdiction in the United States may be involved in this.”
The House Administration Committee chairman says that his investigation into one the most successful Democratic political action committees has shifted to whether foreigners could be laundering money in the 2024 elections.
Rep. Bryan Steil (Wis.), said that his committee had identified individuals who claimed they did not make donations attributed to themselves in Federal Election Commission reports filed by ActBlue. His committee, which oversees issues of election integrity, has “activated an extensive investigation.”
Steil said on the television program “Just the News, No Noise,” that he was concerned about individuals outside the United States’ jurisdiction who could be involved in this.
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He added, “We must avoid, in particular foreign interference in American election at a time when the Biden Administration and radical Democrats will do anything to the contrary.”
When it comes to illegal donations from foreign countries, the Democratic Party has had a long and scandalous history. During Bill Clinton’s 1996 reelection campaign, Democrats were caught accepting donations from “straw donors”, who were reimbursed through foreigners with ties to China. This scandal was one of the largest of the past half century.
Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign received a bad rap for similar issues when an Indian American fund-raiser admitted to funneling phony donations to her campaign.
ActBlue is being investigated by the Texas Attorney General, Missouri Attorney General, and Virginia Attorney General in 2024 after numerous reports that people have claimed they didn’t make contributions that were attributed to them.
ActBlue, one of the Democrats most prolific digital fundraising platforms reports a total of 493 million dollars in donations raised just in July. Just the News contacted it for comment, but the company did not reply. It is a platform that focuses on smaller donors. It has called the allegations made against it “dubious”, and promised to cooperate in various investigations.
This investigation is nothing but a political attack by partisans and a scare tactic used to weaken the power of Democratic small-dollar donors. ActBlue welcomed the chance to respond to these frivolous allegations, in a press release issued after Virginia Attorney-General Jason Miyares launched an investigation this month.
Rep. Steil sent a letter to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) last week, asking them to adopt emergency rules to strengthen donor verification and to prevent fraud by anonymous donors placing their money in the name of others.
Steil, a FEC official, said that “this emergency rulemaking is necessary because ActBlue has reported widespread allegations of fraud to the FEC, which is one of the biggest fundraising platforms in the United States. This is to assure the American public that ActBlue takes the necessary steps to safeguard its donors.”
Steil told Just the News he wanted two “loopholes”, which could explain the concerns that his committee identified. These include the use of anonymous gifts cards to make contributions to political campaigns and the failure by PACs such as ActBlue to demand Card Verification Values (CVVs) when processing donations.
He said, “We are continuing to receive evidence from individuals who have reported that donations made in their names are not those of the donors.” “I believe that the loopholes we have identified could be the cause.
The FEC should take immediate action to ban anonymous gift cards for any online donation made to any politician. We are also concerned about ActBlue’s weak protocols in relation to the non-use of a CVV and the anonymous gift card.
ActBlue, a company owned by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), has been reported as reporting fraudulent donations to the FEC.
Last week, Texas Attorney-General Ken Paxton revealed that the results of his investigation into ActBlue had led to a change. The Democrat-affiliated PAC will now require CVV codes when donors make donations.
The political action committee raises money for Democratic politicians and nonprofits.
Paxton posted Thursday on social media platform X that ActBlue had cooperated in our ongoing investigation. “They’ve changed their requirements so that donations made on their platform now require a CVV code. This is an important change that will help to prevent fraudulent donations.
ActBlue was investigated by Paxton in December 2023 after allegations that ActBlue had engaged in fraudulent activities regarding donations.
The FEC declined to take specific action, but warned that it received numerous complaints last year from donors who claimed they didn’t believe they authorized recurring credit card donations from digital fundraising platforms. It called on Congress to pass laws to end such practices.
The staff of the Commission is regularly contacted by people who discover that recurring contributions have been deducted or charged to their credit cards. The FEC informed Congress that in many cases contributors don’t remember authorizing recurring donations.
The FEC stated that “often, these contributors had tried unsuccessfully to cancel recurring transactions before contacting FEC staff.” It added that some fundraising devices treat a single contribution as a regular contribution by using “pre-checked” boxes. Some committees use this method to consider that the contributor has authorized the recurring contribution without the contributor’s consent. According to the Commission’s experience, many contributors do not know about the “prechecked box” and are surprised when they see the completed transactions on their account statements.
Steil’s biggest concern is to close any backdoor where foreign money could influence U.S. election.
The fact that these donations can be made from anywhere in the world is a real concern. The days of illegal activities involving cash are gone. “We can now do this online,” said he.
