House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) and Rep. Nick Langworthy (R-NY) sent a letter to the Treasury Department Friday demanding records for the Democratic political action committee ActBlue, the New York Post reported. The organization was allegedly reporting "potentially fraudulent" contributions.
Two dozen Republicans signed a letter demanding Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen provide the Suspicious Activity Reports related to ActBlue created since Jan. 1, 2023. The organization is currently collecting donations for Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
The Republican-led committee seeks evidence of possible "money laundering, counterfeit credit/debit card, credit card or debit card fraud, false statements, wire transfer fraud, or identity theft." Reports claim that the organization was bringing in donations from people unaware they were giving, which suggests malfeasance.
🚨BREAKING: Chairman Comer (@RepJamesComer), Rep. Langworthy (@RepLangworthy), and several Oversight Committee Republican members today are launching an investigation into potential fraud and illicit financial activity linked to ActBlue campaign contributions.
Recent reports… pic.twitter.com/PInapsrwfX
— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) September 20, 2024
The letter lays out a case that is disturbing if true. ActBlue is the subject of several investigations for "contributions allegedly made via the platform fraudulently without the reported contributor’s awareness," the letter stated.
"In Virginia, reports of contribution activity facilitated through the ActBlue platform included 'some cases in which single donors made tens of thousands of separate donations worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.'" These so-called dummy accounts are already under investigation by their GOP attorneys general in Texas, Wyoming, and Missouri.
"Federal law prohibits contributions made in the name of another person, and for good reason," Comer said in the letter to Yellen. Not knowing the actual source of these donations presents a problem.
"The Committee is concerned that failure to properly vet contributions made through online platforms may have allowed bad actors to more easily commit fraud to illegally exploit and violate federal campaign finance laws," the letter went on. It may include donations from foreign nationals who are barred from making contributions to candidates.
"They could also include individuals looking to flout the limits of individual contributions by fraudulently using others’ identities to evade those limits, in addition to other criminal activity in violation of campaign finance laws," the letter warned. Comer said the Treasury Department has until October 4, 2024, to comply with the request.
ActBlue may have created this issue by failing to require the Card Verification Value code for online credit and debit transactions. It recently changed that policy, but not before inviting such fraud with the oversight.
The deficiencies in security may also have allowed some foreign nationals to contribute via gift cards and prepaid cards in violation of the law. House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil (R-WI) was already tipped off about this problem with ActBlue.
Whistleblowers disclosed the lack of security, which prompted Steil to write to the Federal Election Commission last month to Chairman Sean Cooksey and Vice Chair Ellen Weintraub last month. Steil wrote that it "is necessary to reassure the American people that ActBlue is taking the necessary steps to protect its donors," Steil wrote.
Steil warned that it was "a serious loophole to the transparency and integrity of the campaign donation process..." This problem is significant as ActBlue raised more than $2.2 billion for Democrats in 2021-2022 alone.
This situation points strongly to a scandal of great proportions if these reports are accurate. Harris has not been implicated directly in any way, but it's not a great look for her to be one of the beneficiaries of the possible scheme.
