ActBlue, the Democratic fundraising platform that has collected millions of dollars for Kamala Harris, is facing potential criminal charges in five states over allegations that it fraudulently exploited unwitting donors to get around campaign finance laws.
The GOP-led Committee on House Administration has been investigating claims that fraudulent donations are being laundered to ActBlue in the form of gift cards and prepaid credit cards.
Chairman Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) on Wednesday referred his committee’s findings of “potential criminal activity” to the Republican attorneys general of Arkansas, Florida, Missouri, Texas and Virginia for further investigation.
Money laundering experts working for the committee analyzed over 200 million Federal Election Commission records spanning the last 14 years to identify suspicious trends such as hundreds of donations of $2.50 from the same individual.
Other anomalies include:
– Donations far greater than the donor could afford.
– Uncharacteristic donations from registered voters suddenly contributing to candidates of the opposing party.
– Unusually frequent donations from elderly people or first-time donors.
“This investigation has exposed potential criminal activity that should be investigated by an appropriate law enforcement agency, such as your office,” Steil wrote in letters to each attorney general, attaching detailed donor records.
“The final analysis produced a set of anomalous donor profiles, ranked by the severity of the inconsistencies.
“In reviewing this analysis, it became clear there is suspicious activity occurring that warrants further review.”
Steil’s investigation was prompted by whistleblower complaints and has drawn on the expertise of the FEC, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, and the Office of Foreign Assets Control, as well as experts in money laundering, credit card fraud and terrorism finance.
“I have faith that the five Attorneys General will build their investigations off the great work our Committee has done, and I look forward to seeing their findings,” Steil told Just The News.
“Through our investigation into ActBlue and the reported campaign finance law violations, we upheld our commitment to the American people to increase transparency in our elections.”
Last month, Steil asked the FEC to tighten donor verification standards so that political committees are compelled to verify the three-digit security code of credit cards provided by donors and ban the use of gift cards for donations.
Steil also has introduced legislation requiring further safeguards for online political donations.
