President Donald Trump has issued a memorandum directing US Attorney General Pam Bondi and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to investigate the Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue, following findings from Congressional committees alleging the platform may have been used to circumvent campaign finance laws.
ActBlue is used by all Democrat and several “non-aligned” politicians in Alaska. Former Rep. Mary Peltola was found to have used ActBlue, and some of her donors were part of the “money mule” system the company uses.
The directive comes after House investigators reported that ActBlue had identified at least 22 “significant fraud campaigns” in recent years, with nearly half of them reportedly having a foreign nexus.
“There is evidence to suggest that foreign nationals are seeking to misuse online fundraising platforms to improperly influence American elections,” Trump wrote in the memorandum signed Thursday.
The memorandum calls for an inquiry not only into ActBlue but also into other similar online fundraising platforms. It follows concerns raised in a recent House of Representatives investigation, which pointed to potential vulnerabilities in how online contributions are monitored and processed.
No additional public statements have been made yet by the Department of Justice, the Department of the Treasury, or ActBlue regarding the directive.
The memorandum marks the latest move by President Trump to address what his administration says are threats to the integrity of US elections through digital platforms.
The problems with ActBlue first came to light after an investigation by journalist James O’Keefe, who discovered that thousands of “donors” were actually people who were unaware their names had been used by ActBlue to fake the source of donations. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has opened up his own investigation into the company.
