Paxton makes criminal referral to DOJ over ActBlue donations

After petitioning the Federal Election Commission to respond to Texas’ investigative findings about a Democratic Party online fundraising platform, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton made a criminal referral to the U.S. Department of Justice.

After a nearly year-long investigation into ActBlue, on Monday, Paxton filed a petition with the FEC requesting it to implement new regulations to prevent straw donations from being made on online political fundraising platforms.

“Our investigation into ActBlue has uncovered facts indicating that bad actors can illegally interfere in American elections by disguising political donations,” Paxton said. “It is imperative that the FEC close off the avenues we have identified by which foreign contributions or contributions in excess of legal limits could be unlawfully funneled to political campaigns, bypassing campaign finance regulations and compromising our electoral system. I am calling on the FEC to immediately begin rulemaking to secure our elections from any criminal actors exploiting these vulnerabilities.”

On Thursday, Paxton made a criminal referral to the DOJ based on the findings of his office’s investigation.

The OAG’s investigation “uncovered evidence showing that bad actors are likely using ActBlue’s platform to make illegal campaign contributions,” he said. “It is illegal to engage in election fraud and it is illegal to obscure one’s identity to flout election rules. The Department of Justice must take immediate action to prevent illegal conduct in our elections.”

In a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Paxton said the OAG’s “investigation has uncovered alarming evidence showing that anonymous actors are systematically making contributions through ActBlue’s platform in the name of other people. This conduct appears to be criminal in a number of ways, including under 18 U.S.C. § 1343 (wire fraud); 18 U.S.C. § 1028 (identity theft); and 52 U.S.C. § 30122 (making contributions in the name of another).”

The referral also includes a copy of the petition Texas filed with the FEC.

Texas’ investigation into ActBlue began in December 2023 in response to allegations that the online platform was potentially facilitating illegal campaign contributions. In August of this year, ActBlue responded to Texas’ investigative findings by requiring donors using credit cards to provide “CVV” codes. The OAG determined this was not enough to prevent alleged abuses it uncovered, including “straw donations apparently being made on a large scale using false identities, through untraceable payment methods.”

ActBlue says it’s raised more than $15.8 billion online since 2004.

In the third quarter of fiscal 2024, it says “6.9 million unique donors gave over 31 million contributions to 18,396 campaigns and organizations, totaling over $1.5 billion.”

“This quarter was the largest in ActBlue history,” it said.

Last month, U.S. House Oversight Chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky. raised concerns with the Treasury Secretary that ActBlue was being used to evade campaign finance laws, The Center Square reported.

The federal and Texas investigations were launched after U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, demanded answers from the FEC in April 2023 about ActBlue’s “schemes to garner illegal campaign donations.”

Rubio cited reports saying that “numerous individuals, including senior citizens, have purportedly donated to ActBlue thousands of times a year” but many “had no idea that their names and addresses were being used to give thousands of dollars in political donations, with most of these ‘donations’ going to ActBlue. It should come as no surprise that ActBlue serves as a vessel for fraud, considering the intentional lack of security engrained within their donation processes and systems.”

ActBlue argues small donations represent “a new standard for grassroots political engagement. Donors from across the nation showed incredible generosity and a new sense of energy and momentum in electing Democrats up and down the ballot.”

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-LA, disagrees, saying on Thursday, “There’s now more evidence that illicit overseas donors are using the corrupt Democrat donor platform ActBlue to exploit campaign finance loopholes and make donations in the names of people without their knowledge.”

He also launched a website, CheckMyDonation.org, enabling Americans to search their names to determine if they were used to make political donations to Democratic candidates without their knowledge.