A top Republican lawmaker has released the findings of a months-long investigation into ActBlue, the primary fundraising platform used by Democratic candidates — and what he found is raising serious concerns about potential foreign influence in U.S. elections.
Rep. Bryan Steil (R-WI), who chairs the Committee on House Administration, launched the inquiry after allegations surfaced suggesting that ActBlue might have facilitated unlawful donations, including those potentially originating from foreign individuals or entities.
Similar to the GOP’s WinRed platform, ActBlue streamlines donation collection and compliance paperwork for Democrats. But according to Steil’s office, it may have also served as a channel for suspicious donations, with lax security practices that allowed some contributions to slip through with little verification.
The core issue? The platform reportedly accepted donations that bypassed standard security protocols — specifically, transactions that didn’t require the CVV code from donors’ credit cards. This loophole, according to Steil, could open the door to illicit funds entering the U.S. political system.
Back in October 2024, Steil sounded the alarm, stating, “We cannot allow foreign actors to influence American elections through campaign contributions.” His office had already begun pressing ActBlue for documentation about its donor verification procedures and what protections it had in place to prevent abuse by bad actors.
In December 2024, Steil’s office released a report stemming from a formal subpoena issued to ActBlue. The documents provided revealed that only in September 2024 — months after the investigation began — did the platform update its policies to start rejecting certain high-risk donations. These included contributions made via foreign prepaid or domestic gift cards, or those originating from sanctioned nations and flagged as suspicious by risk detection firm Sift.
While Steil welcomed the changes, he stressed they came far too late. “This is a step in the right direction,” he said, “but the fact remains — ActBlue accepted questionable donations well into July, just as Democrats were raising record-breaking sums.”
The timing of these transactions is particularly troubling for Steil, who noted that the platform’s updated policies only went into effect after the House advanced his SHIELD Act — legislation that, among other things, blocks the use of anonymous prepaid cards for political donations.
“The American people deserve transparency,” he said. “We need to ensure no foreign money was funneled into our political system in this election cycle — and we must act now to close the loopholes that make it possible.”
Steil has continued pressing the Biden administration for answers. In a December post on X (formerly Twitter), he wrote: “My investigation found ActBlue didn’t start rejecting shady donations until September. @RepJamesComer and I have called on @USTreasury to investigate ActBlue’s suspicious activity reports. So far, they’re stonewalling. That’s unacceptable.”
As the 2024 election cycle recedes into history, Steil says this isn’t the end — not until every avenue of potential foreign influence is blocked. “I will keep working to protect our elections from fraud and outside interference,” he said. “Our democracy depends on it.”
