President Donald Trump signed a memo Thursday directing the Department of Justice to investigate “online fundraising platforms” that “have been willing participants in schemes to launder excessive and prohibited contributions to political candidates and committees.” This takes aim at the Democratic Party’s online fundraising platform ActBlue but the action is well supported by established fact and if anything is long overdue.
Since 2004, ActBlue has operated as the central online fundraising platform for Democratic Party candidates and causes. Legally organized as a political action committee, it serves as a one-stop donation hub, allowing small-dollar donors to contribute to several campaigns without repeatedly entering their credit card information. Donors can put in their information once and then donate to as many Democratic candidates and committees as they like. This not only streamlines the process for contributors but also allows Democratic campaigns to outsource their online fundraising infrastructure to a trusted and partisan platform.
Democrats have always outraised Republicans online, but from 2016 through 2020, the amount hauled in for them by ActBlue doubled and doubled again, far outpacing Republicans.
Investigations by House Republicans revealed anomalies in ActBlue’s Federal Election Commission reports including sudden and frequent donations from elderly citizens, uncharacteristic donations from voters registered for one party but voting for another, and unusually large donations from voters with little money.
ActBlue denied Republican accusations of wrongdoing, but this February it began to buckle. Within a month, ActBlue lost key personnel, including its customer service and partnerships directors, its chief revenue officer, its top legal officer, an assistant research director, a senior HR official, and a senior engineer.
Tellingly, its sole remaining lawyer then revealed that he had been locked out of the organization’s internal communications, prompting him to remind employees: “Please be advised that we have Anti-Retaliation and Whistleblower Policies for a reason.”
In response, ActBlue’s union wrote a letter to its management complaining of “unsettling and disturbing … growing pattern of volatility and toxicity stemming from current leadership,” and called for a third-party investigation of the organization. Trump is giving the union what it wants, although probably not in the form it desired.
ActBlue calls Trump’s memo “unlawful” and the “latest front in his campaign to stamp out all political, electoral and ideological opposition.” It says it will “pursue all legal avenues to protect and defend itself against the administration’s baseless claims.”
WHERE DEMOCRATS COULD TURN IF ACTBLUE GOES DARK
But if they are baseless, why did the last remaining lawyer feel the need to remind everyone of whistleblower protection policies? What, for that matter, are the explanations for all the anomalous donations in the organization’s FEC reports?
The public deserves to know what happened at ActBlue. If there was wrongdoing, as seems likely, those responsible should be brought to justice. Trump has not just a right but a duty to make sure the nation’s campaign finance laws are being followed. The fact that they are probably being broken by Democrats is cause for anger but hardly for surprise.
