Allegations of fraud and money laundering are swirling around ActBlue, the major digital fundraising platform for the Democratic Party and progressive causes. Already the subject of state-level probes, the group’s practices are now under investigation by House Republicans.
Reports last week that at least seven senior officials had departed the organization, along with claims from a remaining lawyer that he faced internal retaliation, have only heightened GOP lawmakers’ scrutiny of ActBlue’s activities.
During a Thursday interview with independent journalist Benny Johnson, Rep. James Comer (R-KY), Chairman of the House Oversight Committee, revealed that the Treasury Department has received hundreds of suspicious activity reports (SARs) from banks regarding ActBlue’s transactions. Comer stated that his committee is “investigating ActBlue the same way we investigated the Bidens. We’re starting with the suspicious activity reports—bank violations that flag financial crimes. And let me tell you, the evidence is overwhelming.”
Comer first requested the SARs last summer, but all of his requests before the election were met with silence from then-Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
Following the election, Yellen allowed “a few of [his] staffers” to review the SARs. Comer noted there were “several hundred suspicious activity reports from various banks. We got to look at 12 of them. I can tell you, they were bad. They were exactly what we suspected.”
“We requested to see more, but they cut us off,” he added.
The election obviously changed everything. Comer told Johnson that his investigators will be examining all of the records next week. “But from what we’ve already seen—from media reports and the few bank violations we’ve reviewed—many of our worst theories regarding ActBlue are going to be confirmed.”
“That’s why so many people are hitting the exits at ActBlue right now,” Comer explained.
Johnson noted that he’s watched “ActBlue operate for decades, and I’ve never seen anything like this. Everyone’s leaving. The entire leadership is gone. The lawyers are fleeing.”
Comer suggested that ActBlue’s alleged activities have been enabled by media collusion and government inaction. He claimed that just as the legacy media coordinated narratives to shield the Biden family during the House investigation, they are now working to protect ActBlue.
“They fed them exactly what to say, exactly what to print. The headlines would come out whenever we were about to do a deposition [during the Biden investigation]. And lo and behold, from The New York Times to MSNBC, they would all have the exact same talking points. Word for word,” Comer said.
He cited the identical media reports from last summer about the Harris campaign’s spectacular fundraising results, which he sees as collusion. The media, Comer said, was trying to make people believe, “Oh, my gosh! Every Democrat in the United States is sitting at home, making numerous $100 donations to Kamala Harris and all the Democrats running in the purple seats across America!”
“When the media all comes out at the same time, pushing the same talking points—that’s collusion.”
He criticized the media’s portrayal of ActBlue’s fundraising success, suggesting that the notion of millions of small-dollar donations from everyday Democrats is an illusion designed to mask financial misconduct.
Johnson shared the previously reported story of an 80-year-old woman from Richmond, Virginia, who allegedly made over 22,000 donations, totaling nearly $800,000, despite living in a rent-controlled apartment and relying on income from Social Security.
These are the types of scenarios Comer expects to find when his staffers comb through the Treasury Department’s collection of SARs triggered by ActBlue transactions next week.
Comer further suggested that ActBlue’s system was deliberately designed to facilitate fraud, referencing Sen. Marco Rubio’s past concerns about the platform not requiring credit card verification (CCV) codes (the 3-digit security code on the back of every credit card]. He implied that this loophole made it easier for foreign entities, possibly from China or Iran, to funnel money into U.S. elections through ActBlue.
According to Comer, “If they [ActBlue] were innocent, they’d be going on TV, trashing me. They’d be calling me a conspiracy theorist. … But they’re not saying anything. … Their lawyers are leaving. And when the lawyers leave, that’s a pretty good sign that something bad is going on.”
Johnson asked Comer if he was alleging that “this is the largest money-laundering scam in the history of American politics.”
Comer replied, “Well, it could be. But I will tell you—it doesn’t make sense.”
He continued, “And if ActBlue goes down—if people go to prison—if there are frog marches for ActBlue executives—the Democrat Party is finished.”
“They’ll have to rebuild from the ashes. If ActBlue collapses, the Democrats have no party left,” Johnson said.
To which Comer replied, “Exactly. ActBlue is their financial lifeline. Without it, it’s over.”
On Thursday, Fox News reported that Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) sent a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel “strongly urging” the bureau to open an investigation into ActBlue. Biggs is alarmed by recent media reports of the organization’s alleged money laundering activities and by the recent findings of his GOP colleagues.
In a Sunday morning post on X, Elon Musk blamed the on-going series of attacks on Tesla dealerships on five ActBlue-funded groups: Troublemakers, Disruption Project, Rise & Resist, Indivisible Project and Democratic Socialists of America.
He also named George Soros, Reid Hoffman, Herbert Sandler, Patricia Bauman, and Leah Hunt-Hendrix as ActBlue funders.
Most of us probably agree with the following post from @DC_Draino:
Elizabeth writes commentary for The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation and a member of the Editorial Board at The Sixteenth Council, a London think tank. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.
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