Lawmakers ramp up scrutiny of political fundraising platforms

Lawmakers are ratcheting up pressure on major political fundraising platforms ActBlue and WinRed as both parties intensify scrutiny of online campaign donations ahead of this fall’s high-stakes midterm elections.

Republicans, including top Trump officials, have long alleged that ActBlue, the dominant fundraising platform for Democratic candidates and causes, is vulnerable to fraud and foreign donations. Democrats, meanwhile, have raised similar concerns about WinRed, the GOP’s fundraising juggernaut, setting the stage for a potentially bitter clash over campaign finance and donor transparency.

That battle was on full display this week when Republicans on the House Administration Committee pressed ActBlue CEO Regina Wallace-Jones on the platform’s safeguards against foreign contributions. 

House Administration Committee Chair Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) argued in his opening remarks that “there’s a significant concern that ActBlue may have allowed foreign donations on their platform, lied to Congress, and withheld responsive documents from a congressional subpoena.”

The Wednesday hearing came after an April report from The New York Times alleging that a law firm working for ActBlue found the organization failed to follow some of the procedures Wallace-Jones described in a 2023 letter to Republicans on how it screened donations to ensure money didn’t come from foreigners outside the United States.

Wallace-Jones,........

© The Hill