Congressional Republicans accused a major Democratic donation platform of reducing safeguards against fraud, as they held hearings on whether the nonprofit illegally accepted money from international donors.
The accusations concern an investigation into ActBlue, a nonprofit that raises money for Democratic campaigns and causes, which Rep. James Comer, R-KY, who sits as chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, told Fox News has been “taking measures to reduce the fraud prevention for their platform,” and therefore making it easier to commit scams.
Despite the newly released allegations and continued pressure from Congress, the nonprofit has denied any wrongdoing and accused Republican congressional leaders of “falsely” accusing it of fraudulent behavior that has, in turn, led to “an onslaught of unfounded attacks,” ActBlue posted on X.
Report alleges foreign actors made illegal donations to Democrats
The recent report from three House Republican-led committees alleges that ActBlue’s safeguards against illegal foreign political contributions were significantly weaker than the fundraising platform has claimed.
Some alleged wrongs include failing to verify passports to ensure donations came from American citizens and approving donations from foreigners. ActBlue leadership apparently told its fraud-prevention analysts to “give the donor the benefit of the doubt” when confirming foreign donors.
“The Committees’ oversight has found that ActBlue, in its own words, decided to take ‘a more lenient approach’ to fraud prevention in 2024, weakening its fraud-prevention policies at least twice even though internal assessments showed that these changes would result in a measurable increase in fraudulent contributions,” per the report, using an ActBlue staff report for reference.
“Similarly, internal trainings directed ActBlue’s fraud prevention team to ‘look for reasons to accept contributions’ rather than to examine them closely for indicators of fraud — as required by federal regulation,” the report continued. “ActBlue took this lax approach to fraud prevention even though it had detected at least 22 significant fraud campaigns on the platform in recent years, including several from foreign sources.”
The nonprofit’s legal team appeared to implode in 2025 after it was legally compelled to turn over documents to the congressional committees:
“By March 2025, every member of ActBlue’s legal and compliance team resigned, was fired, or went on extended leave from the platform. According to subsequent media reports, this mass exodus was a direct consequence of ActBlue’s failure to deter illegal foreign political donations.”
Three months ago, ActBlue CEO Regina Wallace-Jones testified before the House Administration Committee’s hearing on “Preventing Fraudulent Donations: Transparency, Verification, and Accountability,” where she pleaded the fifth during her questioning.
The report continued, “Put simply: every member of ActBlue’s legal and compliance team appears to have left the platform after the 2024 election because of its ‘knowing and willful’ acceptance of illegal foreign contributions, and the subsequent cover-up.”