Fraud on ActBlue: New Report Details Potential Illegal Activity on the Democrat Platform

WASHINGTON—Today, the House Judiciary Committee, the Committee on House Administration, and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform released a joint interim staff report titled, “Fraud on ActBlue: How the Democrats’ Top Fundraising Platform Opens the Door for Illegal Election Contributions.” This report reveals that ActBlue made its fraud-prevention rules “more lenient” twice in 2024—even though there is extensive fraud on the platform, including from foreign sources.

Internal documents show that ActBlue executives and staff are aware that both foreign and domestic fraudulent actors are exploiting the platform but do not take the threat seriously. In fact, they attempted to hide the changes to avoid sparking discussions about fraud on the platform. For example, ActBlue’s training guide for new fraud-prevention employees instructed them to “look for reasons to accept contributions,” rather than err on the side of flagging suspicious donations. Internal communications further reveal that, rather than seeking to reduce or eliminate fraud, ActBlue’s chief fraud-prevention official was willing to accept 10 percent more fraud while focusing on DEI. Additionally, in a thirty-day window during September and October 2024, ActBlue detected 237 separate donations made from foreign IP addresses using domestic prepaid cards.

The Committees remain deeply committed to protecting the integrity of American elections and will continue investigating to inform potential legislative reforms aimed at improving and strengthening our democracy. This oversight is crucial to ensure that American elections are free, fair, and decided by Americans alone.

Read the full joint interim staff report and appendix here.

Chairmen Jim Jordan (R-OH), Bryan Steil (R-WI), and James Comer (R-KY) also sent a letter to the CEO of ActBlue requesting additional documents and transcribed interviews with two ActBlue staff members. ActBlue’s internal turmoil, lack of a functioning legal team, possible retaliatory actions, and failure to take fraud seriously raise new questions about the platform’s ability to deter fraud and comply with federal election law. 

Read excerpts of the letter:

“The Committee on House Administration, the Committee on the Judiciary, and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform are charged with upholding fundamental American civil liberties and protecting the integrity of American elections. To that end, we continue to investigate ActBlue’s fraud prevention policies and practices, which may allow bad actors to make fraudulent political donations, including from foreign sources. New reporting indicates that several ActBlue executives recently resigned amid allegations of ‘internal retaliation[,]’ while the last remaining lawyer on ActBlue’s staff is ‘on leave’ without access to email or other internal systems. We write today to request additional documents regarding ActBlue’s compliance with applicable federal laws and regulations, and to request transcribed interviews with two ActBlue staff members.

“As a political action committee (PAC), ActBlue must take a variety of steps to comply with federal election law. ActBlue must make filings with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), place ‘disclaimer’ and ‘authorization’ notices on solicitations, and comply with laws and regulations governing the handling of ‘illegal’ or ‘questionable’ contributions.

“Recent staff resignations and internal turmoil at ActBlue raise serious questions about ActBlue’s ability to fulfill these ongoing legal obligations. Reporting in the New York Times indicates that at least seven senior staff members, including ActBlue’s ‘highest-ranking legal officer[,]’ have resigned since February 21, 2025. Amid this wave of resignations, [redacted], ‘the last remaining lawyer in the ActBlue general counsel’s office,’ went ‘on leave’ and was stripped of his access to email and other internal systems after he appeared to make allegations of ‘internal retaliation.’ The ‘growing pattern of volatility and toxicity stemming from [ActBlue’s] current leadership’ and the kneecapping of ActBlue’s legal team may be hindering ActBlue’s ability to comply with federal election law. Indeed, ActBlue’s union reportedly told the company that ‘those of us who work with our legal team in our day-to-day do not have clear direction on how to proceed with our work in their absence[.]’

“These developments are even more concerning in light of reporting that ActBlue has maintained poor anti-fraud practices that may have allowed bad actors to make fraudulent political donations, including from foreign sources. Fraudulent political donations corrupt American elections and could amount to interstate criminal conduct.

“ActBlue’s internal turmoil, lack of a functioning legal team, possible retaliatory actions, and failure to take fraud seriously raise a host of new questions about the platform’s ability to deter fraud and comply with legal requirements. Therefore, the Committees require additional documents and information. To further our oversight, please provide the following documents and information from January 1, 2020 to the present:

1. Documents and communications sufficient to show which staff members are responsible for ensuring ActBlue’s compliance with applicable federal laws, including but not limited to the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA);

2. All documents and communications referring or relating to whistleblowers, retaliation against whistleblowers, and actual or alleged misconduct by ActBlue staff, including but not limited to all documents and communications referring or relating to [redacted] going ‘on leave’;

3. All documents and communications referring or relating to the resignation of former Vice President for Customer Service Alyssa Twomey; and

4. All documents and communications referring or relating to the resignations of staff in ActBlue’s Office of the General Counsel, including but not limited to former General Counsel Darrin Hurwitz.”

Read the full letter to Act CEO Regina Wallace-Jones here