Democrat platform ActBlue subpoenaed by House committee amid concerns foreign donors exploited security flaws

House Republicans issued a subpoena this week to the Democratic fundraising platform, ActBlue, as part of an ongoing effort to obtain more information about certain questionable transactions and the platform’s process for vetting its donors.

In a letter to ActBlue CEO Regina Wallace-Jones, House Administration Committee Chair Bryan Steil, R-Wis., requested that the platform turn over more information about its process and policies for verifying donors before Nov. 6, the day after this year’s general election.

He said the subpoena is a bid to “safeguard our nation’s elections” and “close loopholes in our campaign finance system,” including contributions from donors whose identities were not as stringently vetted.

The request, sent just days ahead of the presidential election, comes as Republicans have expressed mounting concerns over ActBlue’s security policies and processes for vetting donors, which the platform has addressed in recent months with some policy changes.

ActBlue said in a statement Thursday that they have received the inquiry from Steil, “and will respond to address the continued inaccuracies and misrepresentations about our platform, as we have done previously.”

“We rigorously protect donors’ security and maintain strict anti-fraud compliance practices. We have zero tolerance for fraud on our platform,” they added. 

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Vice President Kamala Harris arrives to speak at a campaign event in North Hampton, New Hampshire. (Photo by Joseph Prezioso / AFP via Getty)

Until recently, the platform did not require online donors to submit their credit card verification value (CVV) when donating online — prompting criticism from House Republicans, including Steil, who noted that the lack of verification could allow for “potentially fraudulent and illicit financial activity” by foreign donors.

“We cannot allow foreign actors to influence our elections through campaign financing. The Committee’s investigation uncovered that foreign actors might be taking advantage of ActBlue’s inadequate security protocols,” Steil said in his letter.

To date, there has been no evidence or records that such activity has taken place. ActBlue, for its part, has changed its process to require CVV numbers from its donors, a practice people familiar with the process said it began expanding last year. 

we The subpoena request comes on the heels of a New York Post report this week that the Treasury Department has identified “hundreds of records of transactions” made on the app that were flagged by banks as potentially suspicious. The department is currently reviewing those records. 

House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., said this week that his office is “working closely with Treasury” to obtain the materials “expeditiously.”

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Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, argues a point at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Steil and the rest of the House Administration Committee are also working to obtain more information from ActBlue about donations collected in previous months.

On Wednesday, Steil sent a letter to the platform seeking information related to the platform’s donor verification policies and potential vulnerabilities.

He also introduced legislation in September seeking to require political committees and donor platforms such as ActBlue to adopt more stringent vetting processes. 

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Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., right, greets Bruce Springsteen at a campaign rally in support of Vice President Kamala Harris in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

The legislation would also prohibit the acceptance of contributions from prepaid gift cards, and adopt a bipartisan FEC recommendation to prohibit individuals from “knowingly aiding or abetting someone” who makes a contribution in the name of another person.

The legislation passed the committee by voice vote, and has not yet been brought to the floor for a full vote.

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