According to the attorney general’s office, foreign entities can dump donations into American politics with “trivial ease” using ActBlue, a Democrat fundraising platform.
This loophole was discovered after an undercover investigation in the run-up to the 2024 election. In the summer of 2023, O’Keefe Media Group released a report suggesting that donations made on the ActBlue platform were being misattributed to random strawmen.
The method for testing the veracity of the donations was simple: ask the supposed donors. In one instance, an elderly woman denied to O’Keefe that she donated $18,000 to the Biden campaign. Another reporter tried to replicate O’Keefe’s work on a smaller scale. He investigated a man who supposedly made hundreds of donations on the platform. The reporter discovered the man was unemployed.
The Texas attorney general’s office announced it has independently corroborated these public allegations about straw contributions.
News of this alleged Democrat money laundering scheme was released just as the Dade Phelan-led (R-Beaumont) Texas House was considering an impeachment against Ken Paxton.
The attorney general’s office opened its investigation in December 2023 and found that donations were being made with false identities “through untraceable payment methods.” This could include donations by foreign entities and individuals exceeding their contribution limits.
Paxton’s office is now petitioning the Federal Election Commission to implement regulations to close fundraising loopholes found during the investigation.
Left unchecked, the activities uncovered during the investigation reveal an actual jeopardization of American election integrity, according to Paxton’s release.
Democrats have long been praised for their ability to raise small-dollar donations through the platform, but it’s been haunted by laundering allegations.
The attorney general’s office announcement comes only two weeks before the 2024 election.
“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,” said Paxton.
“I am calling on the FEC to immediately begin rulemaking to secure our elections from any criminal actors exploiting these vulnerabilities,” Paxton concluded.
A redacted copy of the request for rulemaking can be read here.
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