WASHINGTON D.C. (WSAU) – Concerns of alleged fraud by a DNC fundraising platform from several Attorneys General across the U.S. have prompted a Wisconsin representative and House Oversight Committee members to contact two top federal institutions for more information.
According to the New York Post, Wisconsin Rep. Bryan Steil and Kentucky Rep. James Comer wrote to both the FEC (Federal Elections Commission) and the Treasury Department to request all SARs otherwise known as suspicious activity reports regarding an investigation into “potentially fraudulent” donations made to ActBlue in recent months.
Rep. Comer identified the reports in question as anything that involves “money laundering, counterfeit credit/debit card, credit card or debit card fraud, false statements, wire transfer fraud, or identity theft” and noted in his letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen that “The Committee is concerned that failure to properly vet contributions made through online platforms may have allowed bad actors to more easily commit fraud to illegally exploit and violate federal campaign finance laws.”
Steil, who chairs the House Administration Committee, also asked FEC chair Sean Cooksey and vice chair Ellen Weintraub to get involved and comply with the investigation, saying, “Following widespread allegations of fraudulent donations being reported to the FEC by ActBlue, one of the largest fundraising platforms in the country, this emergency rule-making is necessary to reassure the American people that ActBlue is taking the necessary steps to protect its donors.”
Back in August, a piece written by the Washington Examiner detailed how Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares had begun the initial process of investigating claims that some ActBlue donors had made tens of thousands of donations worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in his state alone, which he called “facially implausible and appear suspicious.” The Attorneys General of Missouri, Wyoming, and Texas have seen similar donations made in their states and coined the term “dummy accounts” in reference to those kinds of donations.
According to Open Secrets, from 2021 to 2022 alone, ActBlue raised an astounding $2.2 billion that included expenditures of $3.5 million toward a category called “unclassifiable,” and only $218,592 was spent on “campaign expenses” for the full election cycle.
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