Context:

Three top committees within the U.S. House of Representatives have been investigating the Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue, alleging it has weak fraud prevention measures that allow foreign actors to make illicit political donations. Concerns were first raised in 2023 when ActBlue did not require a CVV number for credit card donations, potentially compromising the security of contributions. Although ActBlue has since updated its policies to include CVV requirements, it reportedly only made these changes after ensuring they would not negatively impact Democratic donations. The committees claim that ActBlue executives are aware of exploitation by fraudulent actors but fail to take the threat seriously. Despite these allegations, ActBlue maintains that they have strict anti-fraud compliance practices and zero tolerance for fraud on their platform.

Dive Deeper:

• House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, and Committee on House Administration Chairman Bryan Steil have been leading the investigation into ActBlue since late 2023, focusing on its fraud prevention practices.

• The investigation revealed that ActBlue did not initially require donors to provide a card verification value (CVV) number for credit card donations, raising concerns about the security of contributions and opening the platform to potential misuse by foreign actors.

• Despite updating their policies to require CVV numbers, the committees argue that ActBlue did so only after ensuring it would not impact Democratic fundraising efforts, suggesting the changes were not driven by security concerns alone.

• The committees' oversight efforts uncovered that ActBlue accepted unverified payments during a period of record campaign fundraising, and further inquiries have not fully clarified how effectively the platform deters foreign actors.

• A report released by the committees claims that ActBlue executives are aware of both foreign and domestic fraudulent exploitation but do not take the threat seriously, raising concerns about the integrity of political fundraising.

• ActBlue has dismissed the accusations as inaccuracies and misrepresentations, asserting that they maintain rigorous donor security and strict anti-fraud compliance, with a stated zero tolerance for fraud on their platform.

• The Department of Justice has received the committees' letter but has not provided further comments, leaving the outcome of these investigations pending as the committees continue to probe ActBlue's operations.