WASHINGTON - Today, Committee on House Administration Chairman Bryan Steil (WI-01) announced its next phase of oversight into ActBlue's online political donation operation amid concerns that ActBlue is violating or skirting federal campaign finance (FCF) laws. In launching the investigation, Chairman Steil released the following statement: 

"Illegal and malicious conduct have no place in our elections. Ensuring all parties are complying with federal election law as we approach a presidential election is of utmost importance. By launching a new phase of our investigation into ActBlue, the Committee on House Administration has begun robust oversight of ActBlue's lenient donor verification standards. I'm committed to ensuring Americans can have confidence in our elections and to preventing foreign or malicious actors from influencing American elections."

In launching the next phase of the investigation, Chairman Steil sent a letter to Federal Election Commission (FEC) Chairman Cooksey and Vice Chair Weintraub requesting the FEC immediately initiate an emergency rulemaking process to require political campaigns verify the card verification value (CVV) of donors who contribute online and a rulemaking to prohibit political committees from accepting online contributions from gift cards or credit and debit cards. In addition to the letter, the Committee has scheduled a briefing with the FEC investigations team set for later this month. 

Read the full text of the letter here. 

In addition, Chairman Steil's plan includes legislation to:

  • Require political committees to verify the CVV and address information of donors that contribute via a credit or debit card,
  • Prohibit political committees from accepting donations from a gift card or other prepaid credit card
  • Require political campaigns to get the affirmative consent of donors before they make a reoccuring contribution 

Background:

In recent weeks, a wide array of sources have voiced concerns that ActBlue is violating or skirting federal campaign finance laws in several ways including:

  • Laundering foreign contributions through prepaid gift cards and U.S. credit and debit cardholders. 
  • Using prepaid giftcards and credit cards as a vehicle without knowledge of the owner to launder campaign contributions that would violate Federal Campaign Finance (FCF) law.
  • Deliberate nonuse of the CVV number to hinder verification of the owner or location of the credit card holder.
  • Receipt of a significant number of donations from individuals who are retired and live on a fixed income. 
  • Sudden appearance of very large donations from individuals who have previously donated much smaller amounts.
  • Patterns of hundreds of donations for $2.50 from the same individual.
  • State Attorney's General from Virginia, Wyoming, and Missouri are conducting similar investigations into ActBlue.

On September 20, 2023, Chairman Steil held the first full committee hearing with the Federal Election Commission in over a decade. 

On October 31, 2023 Chairman Steil sent a letter demanding answers on ActBlue's practices, questioning if they are complying with federal campaign finance laws and preventing foreign and illegal contributions.

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