ActBlue, the primary fundraising platform for the Democratic Party, has been accused of engaging in a “massive money laundering operation” by which contributions from major donors are moved through hundreds of thousands of small donations made in the name of individuals who do not know they have donated. The allegations came to light as President Joe Biden announced his intention to drop out of the presidential race. Since then, ActBlue has processed over $100 million in online donations, including nearly $50 million in donations during the first 24 hours after Vice President Kamala Harris launched her campaign.
Investigative journalist and O’Keefe Media Group founder James O’Keefe approached individuals whose names were listed as having made hundreds of thousands of contributions to Democratic campaigns, none of whom had any knowledge of these donations. Based on O’Keefe’s investigation, it appears that unwitting donors are contributing money to Democratic campaigns through ActBlue.
FEC data shows that some senior citizens across the U.S. have been donating thousands of times per year, with their names and addresses attached to over $200,000 in contributions. O’Keefe visited a few of these individuals’ homes to verify the data provided by a group of citizen journalists known as Election Watch from Maryland.
Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump’s campaign recently filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) accusing Biden and Harris of violating campaign finance laws by transferring almost $100 million in fundraising cash to Harris’ presidential campaign. In the complaint, it is stated that Harris is “seeking to perpetrate a $91.5 million dollar heist of Joe Biden’s leftover campaign cash.
Campaign general counsel David Warrington called this action a “brazen money grab” and the largest violation in the history of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended. He urged the Commission not to ignore such violations, stating that Harris is committing the largest campaign finance violation in American history by using the FEC’s forms to repurpose one candidate’s principal campaign committee for another candidate’s use.
The Trump campaign’s complaint accuses Biden, Harris, and her campaign treasurer Keana Spencer of flagrantly violating the act by making and receiving an excessive contribution of almost $100 million, as well as filing fraudulent forms with the Commission intending to repurpose one candidate’s principal campaign committee for another candidate.
The complaint argues that if Harris were a candidate in 2024, federal law would require her to have filed a Statement of Candidacy and for her name to have appeared in the name of her authorized committee. However, Harris’ name does not appear in the name of her supposed authorized committee, “Biden for President,” and until July 21, no Statement of Candidacy existed for the vice president. Instead of filing her own Statement of Candidacy, she simply amended Biden’s by replacing his name with hers.
Under the FEC Act, there is no mechanism for an individual to end another person’s federal candidacy by simply amending the other person’s Form 2. Furthermore, changing a document submitted to a federal bureau is a federal violation. The complaint also states that in the alleged amended Form 2, Harris assigned “Biden for President” as her principal campaign committee and then renamed it.
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