Trump to target ActBlue in presidential memorandum

In a shot at ActBlue, the left’s major online donation platform, President Donald Trump plans to sign a presidential memorandum on Thursday that he will cast as cracking down on foreign contributions in American elections, according to a person familiar with the policy and granted anonymity to discuss not-yet-public details.

Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office is expected to be involved in the effort, the person said. The order is expected to specifically target ActBlue. Republicans have long claimed the platform could be exploited by foreign actors, while Democrats have warned the action is an example of Trump baselessly targeting political opponents.

After this article was published, POLITICO obtained a fact sheet on the memo confirming the details. The memo will direct Bondi to “investigate and take appropriate action concerning allegations regarding the use of online fundraising platforms to make ‘straw’ or ‘dummy’ contributions and to make foreign contributions to U.S. political candidates and committees, all of which break the law” and report results to the president and his general counsel, according to the fact sheet.

Democrats had been bracing in recent days for potential action from the White House against the platform, casting it as an unwarranted attack on their fundraising efforts. In an email to Democrats on Wednesday referring to a potential coming action from the White House targeting the platform, ActBlue CEO Regina Wallace-Jones wrote, “Nothing will deter or interrupt ActBlue’s mission and work to enable millions of Americans to participate in our democracy. There is an ongoing and persistent effort to weaken the confidence of the American people in what’s possible. This is the next version of ‘the big lie.’”

On Thursday, ActBlue told POLITICO, “ActBlue plays a vital role in enabling all Americans to participate in our democracy and the organization strictly abides by all federal and state laws governing its activities. We will always stand steadfast in defending the rights of all Americans to participate in our democracy and ActBlue will continue its mission undeterred and uninterrupted, providing a safe, secure fundraising platform for the millions of grassroots donors who rely on us.”

Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Wis.), chair of the House Committee on Administration, sent a letter to ActBlue in October asking for documents and information about how the platform verifies donors, suggesting that it does not have adequate protections to prevent foreign donations.

Federal law prohibits any contributions, donations, expenditures or disbursements either directly or indirectly from foreign nationals and governments in any U.S. election, whether federal, state or local.

In December, Steil announced the documents turned over by ActBlue showed that the company had implemented new policies to “automatically reject donations that use foreign prepaid/gift cards, domestic gift cards, are from high-risk/sanctioned countries, and have the highest level of risk as determined.” At the time, Steil called it a “positive step forward” but said there “is still more work to be done.”

In a December press release concerning the issue, ActBlue said that its “robust security program and strict fraud prevention measures help us rigorously protect donors’ information, root out potentially unlawful foreign contributions, protect donors from financial fraud, and flag potentially unlawful or fraudulent activity.”

Holly Otterbein contributed to this report.

POLITICO