‘Serious Loophole’ Allowing Democrats’ ActBlue To Potentially Accept Illegal Political Contributions: Congress

House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil (R-WI) urged the Federal Election Commission (FEC) this week to immediately initiate a rule that would close a “serious loophole” that is allowing Democrats’ ActBlue fundraising platform to potentially raise money from illegal campaign contributions.

The formal request comes as ActBlue has helped to give Democrats a fundraising advantage over Republicans in recent years and helped Vice President Kamala Harris raise tens of millions of dollars overnight for her presidential campaign.

The rule would force political campaigns to verify the card verification value (CVV) of donors who contribute online using a credit or debit card and prohibit them from accepting online contributions from gift cards or other prepaid credit cards.

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Steil said in a letter to the FEC that his formal request follows “widespread allegations of fraudulent donations being reported to the FEC by ActBlue, one of the largest fundraising platforms in the country, this emergency rulemaking is necessary to reassure the American people that ActBlue is taking the necessary steps to protect its donors.”

ActBlue confirmed to the Committee “that it does not require a CVV to donate,” the letter said. “However, the vast majority of online transactions, including a donation to most political campaigns and to other large fundraising platforms, require a CVV number to reduce fraud and prevent unlawful foreign transactions. ActBlue’s donor procedures are painfully outside the norm, and an emergency rulemaking is required to address them.”

“ActBlue’s practices invite the possibility of foreign donations, and allowing political committees to accept donations from gift cards or other prepaid credit cards promote the appearance and the very real possibility that straw donors are making campaign donations with funds provided by another person or an unlawful donor including a foreign national,” the letter concluded. “These issues present a serious loophole to the transparency and integrity of the campaign donation process, and an emergency rulemaking is required to rectify these issues.”