Paxton, a Republican, indicated this discovery in a Petition for Rulemaking (PFR) sent to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on Oct. 21. The document detailed how "suspicious actors" are allegedly using the ActBlue political fundraising platform "to make a large number of straw political donations."
The discovery arose from an investigation into ActBlue that Paxton's office opened last December, which sought to determine whether its operations were compliant with all applicable laws. The Lone Star State's top attorney later announced in August that the probe bore fruit, as ActBlue began requiring donors using credit cards to provide CVV codes – a common security measure.
"But this is not a full solution to the problems that AG Paxton's team has identified on ActBlue. Namely, it appears that straw donations are systematically being made using false identities through untraceable payment methods. The petition recommends regulations that would close fundraising loopholes that jeopardize American election integrity," said an Oct. 21 press release from Paxton's office.
"The FEC previously considered rules on the loopholes that the AG has found here, but ActBlue was a vocal opponent of such rules. That opposition is no longer tenable in light of the AG's findings. If not corrected by the FEC, bad actors can – with trivial ease – illegally funnel foreign money into American elections, exceed political contribution limits and more."
Paxton said: "Our investigation into ActBlue has uncovered facts indicating that bad actors can illegally interfere in American elections by disguising political donations."
"It is imperative that the FEC close off the avenues we have identified by which foreign contributions or contributions in excess of legal limits could be unlawfully funneled to political campaigns, bypassing campaign finance regulations and compromising our electoral system," he continued. "I am calling on the FEC to immediately begin rulemaking to secure our elections from any criminal actors exploiting these vulnerabilities."
ActBlue sued for facilitating illegal donations
Paxton's Oct. 21 submission of the PFR to the election body came in the wake of GOP political strategist Mark Block suing ActBlue for facilitating illegal donations that used his personal information. According to Block's lawsuit filed in a Wisconsin court, a "John Doe" used his identity to make over $880 in donations between May and October using an American Express card linked to a Santa Monica, California address.
The strategist reportedly discovered at least 385 ActBlue donation receipts in his old campaign email account, including 35 earmarked to Vice President Kamala Harris and one to an LGBTQ campaign. Some of the receipts showed donations to the Harris Victory Fund, while one receipt showed a $7.50 donation made in June to the Equality PAC – the political arm of the liberal-leaning Congressional LGBTQ Equality Caucus. (Related: GOP political strategist claims his identity is being used for FAKE DONATIONS to the Harris-Walz campaign.)
Some 234 donations to various left-wing causes were set up to repeat weekly, 86 were one-time donations and 65 were monthly recurrences. The average donation was just $3.24. According to the New York Post, the individual donations were all under $200, which means they didn't have to be reported to the FEC.
Block described the scheme as "smurfing," a form of money laundering that involves breaking up large-scale campaign donations into smaller amounts. The scheme allows campaign contribution limits to be bypassed and disguises the real identity of donors.
The strategist alleged that the ActBlue donations qualify as "racketeering activity "under Wisconsin law. He also noted that the smurfing scheme that used his identity was designed to circumvent federal election law and may be part of a larger scam involving tens of thousands of unwitting donors.
"Given [Block's] conservative political leanings, he would never consent to monetary contributions to any of the ActBue campaigns," the lawsuit stated. "While fraudulent donations of such small amounts may seem inefficacious, this pattern is able to exploit a loophole for federal reporting requirements. The ActBlue donations appear to be part of a larger pattern of suspicious activity."
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Watch Gary Franchi of Next News Network exposing Kamala Harris' money laundering scheme via ActBlue below.
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