Jolyon@jolyon

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ActBlue Republican investigation Pat Fallon

There's a lot to unpack in the Republican probe into ActBlue, the Democratic fundraising platform. Rep. Pat Fallon has gone as far as calling it a "money laundering operation," arguing that foreign cash slipped through because the fraud safeguards weren't up to snuff. One detail that stands out: ActBlue historically didn't ask for the CVV on credit cards, which is the code that helps confirm the person donating actually has the card in hand, skipping that step can open the door to misuse of stolen card numbers. What makes this even more complicated is that the co-founder and a board member both pleaded the Fifth when Congress came calling, and by March 2025 the whole legal and compliance team had walked out. ActBlue, for its part, says the GOP is after them for political reasons, insists they've done nothing wrong, and points out that their current setup checks more than 140 different factors to block shady donations. All of that, the departures, the Fifth Amendment invocations, the weaker checks, paints an ugly picture. But ugly doesn't automatically equal illegal, and that distinction matters here. The reporting comes from Fox News's Daniyal. #ActBlue

1w

Jolyon@jolyon

Follow

ActBlue Republican investigation Pat Fallon

There's a lot to unpack in the Republican probe into ActBlue, the Democratic fundraising platform. Rep. Pat Fallon has gone as far as calling it a "money laundering operation," arguing that foreign cash slipped through because the fraud safeguards weren't up to snuff. One detail that stands out: ActBlue historically didn't ask for the CVV on credit cards, which is the code that helps confirm the person donating actually has the card in hand, skipping that step can open the door to misuse of stolen card numbers. What makes this even more complicated is that the co-founder and a board member both pleaded the Fifth when Congress came calling, and by March 2025 the whole legal and compliance team had walked out. ActBlue, for its part, says the GOP is after them for political reasons, insists they've done nothing wrong, and points out that their current setup checks more than 140 different factors to block shady donations. All of that, the departures, the Fifth Amendment invocations, the weaker checks, paints an ugly picture. But ugly doesn't automatically equal illegal, and that distinction matters here. The reporting comes from Fox News's Daniyal. #ActBlue

1w