Mid–Wednesday afternoon, one of my Democratic campaign sources nervously texted me, “Are you hearing stuff on this ActBlue EO? Campaigns are freaking out.”

Democrats were experiencing a rising panic as rumors swirled that President Donald Trump would sign an executive order targeting ActBlue, the party’s wildly successful online fundraising platform that has allowed Democrats to out-raise Republicans in small-dollar donations. So far this year, it has raised over $400 million. Multiple campaign officials have told me that the major Democratic committees for the Senate and the House, as well as powerful outside groups like EMILY’s List, were reaching out to campaigns to let them know the executive order was coming. “Anyone who’s working with a decent fundraising firm is preparing for this,” one veteran campaign manager told me.

On Thursday evening, Trump signed an order directing Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate ActBlue, a remarkable attack on the........

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