Trump signs presidential memo targeting ActBlue foreign donation, fraud allegations

President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum on Thursday to crack down on foreign straw donors in elections, instructing federal agencies to take action on concerns raised by Congress and chronicled by Just the News about the progressive online fundraising platform ActBlue, according to multiple officials.

The memo tasked the Justice Department to investigate and decide whether any criminal charges or lawsuits should be filed against ActBlue, which has admitted it did not follow common anti-fraud protections for much of the 2024 election even as it processed hundreds of millions of dollars for Democrat-affiliated campaigns and causes, including some from illicit foreign sources.

"Federal law (52 U.S.C. 30121 and 30122) strictly prohibits making political contributions in the name of another person, as well as contributions by foreign nationals," the memo reads. "Notwithstanding these laws designed to protect American democracy, press reports and investigations by congressional committees have generated extremely troubling evidence that online fundraising platforms have been willing participants in schemes to launder excessive and prohibited contributions to political candidates and committees." 

The House Administration, Judiciary and Oversight committees launched probes last year into the company, uncovering evidence the platform changed its donation policies twice during the 2024 election cycle to make its standards “more lenient” and processed donations from foreign sources, Just the News reported earlier this month.

According to internal company documents reviewed by the committees, during the 2024 campaign cycle, ActBlue issued new standards encouraging staff to “look for reasons to accept contributions.” Before the policy change, the platform already failed to require CVV numbers for credit card transactions, increasing fraud risks.

An internal assessment by the company determined the policy change led to “between 14 and 28 additional fraudulent contributions each month.” Between September 2022 and November 2024, ActBlue recorded up to 1,900 fraudulent transactions in total, but the report authors claim the suspicious donations are far more “widespread.”

The documents also show the platform began monitoring potential fraudulent donations from several foreign sources, including hundreds of donations from Brazil, Colombia, India, Iraq, the Philippines and Saudi Arabia, and other countries. 

These fraudulent donations raised concerns among Members of Congress investigating ActBlue that the platform may have violated the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, which states persons who “knowingly accept a contribution made by one person in the name of another person’ may face criminal liability.” 

Donations from foreign nationals for American campaigns are also illegal under federal law. 

The three House committees leading the investigation recently escalated their probe into the platform, demanding that four former officials appear for transcribed interviews. The committees sent letters last week to former general counsel Darrin Hurwitz, former Assistant Director of Research Natalie Niemeyer, former Chief Revenue Officer Peter Slutsky, and former Vice President of Customer Service Alyssa Twomey, who have each resigned from their role since February amid reported allegations of “internal retaliation” and chaos at the company.