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Former President Donald Trump is preparing to sign an executive order targeting online fundraising platforms for elections, specifically focusing on ActBlue, which serves as the primary fundraising tool for the Democratic Party. This initiative aims to investigate potential foreign campaign donations facilitated through these platforms.
According to a report by Politico, the proposed executive order is set to initiate an investigation into ActBlue, enlisting the involvement of Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Justice Department. Following this, NBC News confirmed that the inquiry would focus on how ActBlue verifies and reports its donors.
This development follows months of scrutiny from House Republicans, who have been pressing ActBlue for proof that it can effectively prevent foreign contributions, a claim that the platform has categorically denied. As stated by the Federal Election Commission, U.S. law explicitly forbids foreign nationals from financially contributing to any election-related activities, including those involving political parties.
The scrutiny over ActBlue intensified this past March when billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk claimed on social media that organizations linked to ActBlue were covertly financing protests occurring at Tesla dealerships nationwide. Subsequently, the House Judiciary Committee heightened its efforts, releasing a report earlier this month that pointed to alleged fraudulent activities on the platform.
ActBlue has reported impressive fundraising totals, indicating that it has raised over $16.8 billion for Democratic candidates and causes since its inception in 2004, with over $400 million raised in the last three months alone since Trump took office. In a letter addressed to Democrats in anticipation of the executive order, ActBlue’s CEO and President Regina Wallace-Jones described the ongoing allegations as a “strategy of distraction and exhaustion.”
Meanwhile, the organization is also contending with its own internal challenges. A report by the New York Times indicated that a number of senior officials—at least seven—have resigned since the conclusion of the 2024 election, with the reasons for their departures still unclear.
Source
www.theverge.com