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2024-12-13 Home Front: Politix
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ActBlue Bombshell: Dem money platform tells Congress it didn’t block foreign gift cards until fall.
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The times, they are a-changing. This time President Trump and the Republicans need to be sure to pass them into law, not just depend on executive orders than can be as easily reversed by the next president as the Biden administration did last time. [JustTheNews] ActBlue disclosed that it updated its policies on Sept. 9 to “automatically reject donations that use foreign prepaid/gift cards."
ActBlue, the massive online fund-raising platform for liberal causes, has informed Congress it did not automatically block donations made with foreign-bought gift cards until recently, a potentially significant revelation in an ongoing investigation into whether China, Russia, Iran or Venezuela routed illicit money to Democrat candidates.
Or Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the PLO… House Administration Chairman Bryan Steil, R-Wis., whose panel oversees election integrity, told Just the News on Tuesday that ActBlue turned over documents under subpoena showing a major change in September to its donor verification policies designed to protect against illicit money flowing into political campaigns.
ActBlue disclosed that it updated its policies on Sept. 9 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,” by its solution provider, Sift.
The change occurred just three days after Steil introduced the Secure Handling of Internet Electronic Donations (SHIELD) Act on Sept. 6 to ensure foreign money stayed out of online political fundraising. Before the change, Steil said, donations made with foreign gift cards were not automatically rejected by ActBlue before the change.
Or even rejected at all — it was to enable that kind thing that it was set up that way. “While this is a positive step forward, there is still more work to be done to ensure our campaign finance system is fully protected from fraud and unlawful foreign interference," Steil told Just the News. "The documents provided to the Committee also confirm that ActBlue still accepted these concerning payment methods in July, a period when Democrats raised a record number of campaign money before implementing these safeguards.
Steil disclosed earlier this fall that his committee is investigating whether four foreign powers -- China, Russia, Venezuela and Iran -- used ActBlue to route illicit foreign money into Democrat coffers.
His committee referred thousands of suspicious donations to state attorneys general in five states, prompting an investigation that has now expanded to 19 states.
*Blink* In addition, a Wisconsin Republican strategist filed a lawsuit in October alleging his email identity was misused to make Democrat and liberal donations he did not authorize or pay for. The judge in the case recently approved a subpoena compelling ActBlue to disclose certain evidence in the case.
Meanwhile, Steil and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer have requested to see suspicious activity reports filed by banks flagging certain monies flowing through Act Blue. Comer recently alerted lawmakers there could be hundreds such reports to review.
ActBlue has broadly denied wrongdoing but says it is cooperating with the various investigations.
”We dindunuffin,” the spokescritter said (it wouldn’t do at all to assume the creature is human, after all). It claims to have raised more than $2 billion in small online fund-raising donations for Democrat and liberal causes since its inception in 2004.
How much of it donated knowingly and willingly? In a recent statement on its site to users, ActBlue said it was the victim of “disinformation” and was committed to complying with the law and protecting donors’ privacy.
“We rigorously protect donors’ information by maintaining a robust security program and strict fraud prevention measures – often beyond what is required by law,” it said. “ActBlue holds itself to the highest legal and ethical standards, and all contributions made through ActBlue are disclosed in full compliance with federal, state, and local laws.”
Uh huh. Steil said while getting to the bottom of any foreign funds that flowed through ActBlue is imperative, he also is focused on ensuring new legislation closes any potential loopholes that allowed bad actors to cheat on political fund-raising.
"We must keep working to ensure that no foreign funds were illegally funneled into U.S. political campaigns during this election cycle," he said. "It is also critical that we enact lasting reforms to prevent illicit contributions in future election cycles.
*Whoosh!* There goes the last Democratic candidate’s billion dollar election campaign kitty. It will be very interesting to see how much they can collect after seriously annoying major donor classes and being constrained to comply with election laws. "Advancing legislation like the SHIELD Act will permanently close these vulnerable loopholes and safeguard the integrity of our campaign finance system," he added.
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Posted by trailing wife 2024-12-13 2024-12-13 00:33||
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