Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed suit against ActBlue, a major political fundraising platform, accusing it of misleading consumers about its donation processes that “allow fraudulent and foreign donations to undermine the integrity of our nation’s elections.”
“The radical left has relied on ActBlue as a way to funnel foreign donations and dark money into their political campaigns to subvert our laws and compromise the integrity of our elections,” said Paxton. “ActBlue lied to Congress and to the American people, and I will ensure justice is served. It has blatantly ignored state law that prohibits deceptive practices, and it must pay for its illegal conduct.
“Fair elections are the foundation of our democracy, and I will work to ensure no illegal campaign donation flies under the radar.”
ActBlue funds primarily left-wing campaigns at all levels of government and has processed more than $16 billion since its founding in 2004.
In 2023, Paxton opened an investigation into whether ActBlue was enabling donor fraud in violation of Texas law. A year later, he sent a petition for rulemaking to the FEC detailing how suspicious actors had appeared to be continuing to use ActBlue’s political fundraising platform to make a large number of straw political donations.
Amidst the OAG’s investigation and a Congressional investigation, ActBlue claimed it stopped its illegal operations.
Paxton says internal OAG investigations and recent reporting have now shown that ActBlue lied about its donor vetting policies and its operations.
As the New York Times recently reported, ActBlue’s own outside counsel acknowledged that the organization’s representations about its donation safeguards were not true.
Further, the OAG has determined that certain safeguards are not consistently implemented, creating a substantial risk that impermissible foreign contributions may have been processed.
For example, OAG investigators were able to prove that ActBlue continues to process gift card donations, despite the company’s representations that the opposite is true. ActBlue’s acceptance of gift cards and prepaid debit cards allows for fraudulent donations due to the lack of identification required.
Paxton says ActBlue’s misrepresentations could lead to entities utilizing its services to violate state and federal election laws.
Travis County District Court case number 096-376890-26.
