Donald Trump signed a memorandum directing Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate ActBlue, the primary fundraising platform for Democrat campaigns and political organizations.
The memorandum insinuates that ActBlue is a vehicle for fraud through “straw donors” and illegal foreign donations. Republicans in Congress have spent the past year accusing ActBlue of failing to safeguard against fraud.
There is evidence to suggest that foreign nationals are seeking to misuse online fundraising platforms to improperly influence American elections. A recent House of Representatives investigation revealed that a platform named ActBlue had in recent years detected at least 22 “significant fraud campaigns”, nearly half of which had a foreign nexus. During a 30-day window during the 2024 campaign, the platform detected 237 donations from foreign IP addresses using prepaid cards, indicating that this activity remains a pressing concern.
These activities undermine the integrity of our electoral process. Therefore, I direct the Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, to use all lawful authority, as necessary, to investigate allegations regarding the unlawful use of online fundraising platforms to make “straw” or “dummy” contributions or foreign contributions to political candidates and committees, and to take all appropriate actions to enforce the law.
Memorandum signed by Donald Trump
The document makes no mention of GOP fundraising platform WinRed.
Note from the Editor
This is the latest in a years-long effort to defame ActBlue, which is also the platform used by our fundraising partner Deprogram America to keep this website running. We are often accused of being an “ActBlue operation” or “ActBlue scam” by Trump supporters.
ActBlue is a payment processing platform like Stripe, Square, or Ko-Fi, for example. It does not direct the activities of any of the platform’s users. Our partnership with Deprogram America adds an extra layer of anonymity between Trump File and service providers like ActBlue to protect the identities of the website founder and our team.
As an aside, let’s not forget that Donald Trump has used his businesses and personal bank accounts to accept contributions and favors from foreign enemies. This is not about fraud. This is about making it more difficult for Democrats to run their campaigns and win elections.
