Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares announced Friday that his office is investigating ActBlue for allegations of fraud across the state.
ActBlue is the premier fundraising platform for the Democratic Party and has facilitated billions of dollars in contributions since 2004. Miyares sent a letter to ActBlue warning the organization that it is now under investigation for collecting suspicious contributions in Virginia that point to “illegal” and “fraudulent” activities, demanding that the platform provide detailed records related to its transactions.
“My office has become aware of multiple serious allegations that ActBlue (and its affiliates) have engaged in fraudulent, deceptive, and/or otherwise illegal activities in the Commonwealth of Virginia and/or have aided and abetted others in doing so,” Miyares wrote in the letter to ActBlue. “The citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia deserve to know that nonprofit and political entities are financed in a legal manner and that entities operating in Virginia are legitimately and legally raising funds. To undermine those concerns is to undermine the integrity of our elections and charities.”
Miyares pointed to hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions to the fundraising platform coming from individual donors in Virginia “in volumes that are facially implausible,” according to the letter. Some of these high-level contributions have come from senior citizens who self-identify as retired or unemployed and are listed with “suspicious” addresses.
That appears to indicate that those donations are stemming from “fictional donors or dummy accounts,” or that the transactions are “fraudulent” altogether, Miyares wrote in the letter. Miyares noted that it is also possible that ActBlue is taking contributions from Virginia donors without their consent or awareness.
Miyares argued in the letter that ActBlue’s actions may violate Virginia’s charitable and criminal laws, campaign finance laws and federal laws.
“For the foregoing reasons, it is imperative that you provide my office with a detailed description of ActBlue’s processes and procedures for verifying the legitimacy and accuracy of donor and contribution information as well as the processes and procedures used in verifying information reported to regulatory bodies,” the letter reads. “Given the seriousness of these allegations, I expect to receive your substantive response by August 12, 2024.”
ActBlue publicly responded to Miyare’s letter in a statement online Friday, claiming that the investigation “is nothing more than a partisan political attack and scare tactic to undermine the power of Democratic and progressive small-dollar donors.”
“The promoters of this disinformation campaign have shown up at the homes of donors and harassed our staff in-person. This must stop,” ActBlue said in its statement. “The continued escalation of these lies and their intimidating tactics is dangerous. Republicans simply cannot accept that millions of Democrats are energized and engaged in the political process, and are instead resorting to political attacks and spreading false accusations.”
The platform processed more than $90 million in donations in the first 24 hours after Vice President Kamala Harris announced in July that she’d be running for president, following President Biden’s announcement that he would not be seeking reelection, according to The New York Times.
ActBlue has previously engaged in several left-leaning and controversial events and fundraising opportunities, including processing contributions for an illegal immigrant bail fund and providing fundraising opportunities to organizations tied to a pro-Palestinian conference featuring speakers that praised Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks against Israel.
ActBlue did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
