South Carolina Attorney General Joins Crusade Against ‘ActBlue’

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South Carolina attorney general Alan Wilson has sent a letter to the chief executive officer of the nation’s largest left-of-center fundraising apparatus, accusing it of engaging in “potentially fraudulent, deceptive or otherwise illegal activities.”

Dated last Thursday (August 22, 2024), the letter to the CEO of ActBlue references “smurfing” – a form of money laundering in which large sums of money are “donated” to a political candidate or committee and then broken down via “smaller, less conspicuous amounts.”

Smurfing “disguises who the money is actually coming from, so the contribution limits on how much money can be donated to a particular candidate can be skirted,” former Federal Election Commission member Hans von Spakovsky noted in a recent column published by Fox News.

“It may involve widespread mail and wire fraud and the fraudulent use of the identities of unwitting members of the public to violate federal and state campaign finance laws,” von Spakovsky added.

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What is 'smurfing'? What every American needs to know about illegal money in elections https://t.co/ULnrYT17Jf #FoxNews

— Hans von Spakovsky (@HvonSpakovsky) August 17, 2024

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Founded in 2004, ActBlue has raised more than $14.6 billion for left-leaning candidates and committees over the past two decades.

“Based on publicly accessible information, some individual donors in South Carolina have purportedly donated funds through ActBlue in prolific volumes that appear implausible and highly suspicious,” Wilson wrote in his letter (.pdf). “Alarmingly, some of these individuals list their occupations as ‘unemployed’ or report jobs that could not be reasonably commensurate to the total amount of financial contributions made by others in similar positions.”

According to Wilson, these discrepancies “raise the question of whether contributions (sent) via ActBlue may be originating from straw-donors or fictitious accounts, indicating potentially fraudulent activity.”

“The allegations also raise the question of whether contributions were made without the reported donors’ consent or awareness, which is equally troubling,” Wilson wrote.

If true, Wilson warned ActBlue such activities “could constitute violations of multiple provisions of South Carolina charitable, regulatory and criminal law” as well as violations of campaign finance laws in the event ActBlue contributions were “directed to candidates seeking state or local public office in South Carolina.”

Wilson’s letter directed ActBlue to submit a response in writing to his office no later than Friday, September 6, 2024.

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“It is imperative that you provide my office with a detailed description of ActBlue’s processes and procedures for verifying the legitimacy and accuracy of donor and contribution information, as well as the information reported to South Carolina’s regulatory bodies,” Wilson wrote. “Organizations such as yours have every right to raise campaign funds for its preferred candidates. However, those organizations must remain as transparent as possible so that the public can be reassured of the integrity of our electoral process.”

GOP politicians have assailed ActBlue for its lack of transparency – and the alleged fraud it invites.

Last spring, U.S. senator Marco Rubio went after the entity at the federal level – referring to it as “a vessel for fraud.” Rubio wrote to the Federal Election Commission regarding “alarming reports” of “fraudulent donations,” accusing the platform of an “intentional lack of security.”

Earlier this month in Texas, though, attorney general Ken Paxton touted the platform’s cooperation with a Lone Star State investigation.

“ActBlue has cooperated with our ongoing investigation,” Paxton said in a statement. “They have changed their requirements to now include ‘CVV’ codes for donations on their platform. This is a critical change that can help prevent fraudulent donations.”

ActBlue has rebuked previous efforts by attorneys general as part of a “years-long disinformation and harassment campaign targeting ActBlue based on frivolous and false accusations.”

“This investigation is nothing more than a partisan political attack and scare tactic to undermine the power of Democratic and progressive small-dollar donors,” the group wrote on X in response to a similar letter received earlier this month from Virginia attorney general Jason Miyares. “We welcome the opportunity to respond to these frivolous claims.”

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THE LETTER…

(S.C. Attorney General’s Office)

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …

Will Folks is the owner and founding editor of FITSNews. Prior to founding his own news outlet, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina, bass guitarist in an alternative rock band and bouncer at a Columbia, S.C. dive bar. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.

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