Verifying a U.S. passport sounds like it should involve, well, verifying a U.S. passport. But according to a new Republican-led congressional report [1] highlighted by Just the News [2], ActBlue’s system for donors using foreign addresses did something considerably simpler: it checked whether the passport number had the right number of characters.
ActBlue is a nonprofit online fundraising platform that has become a major piece of the Democratic Party’s fundraising infrastructure. Founded in 2004, it processes contributions for Democratic candidates, party committees, PACs and progressive organizations, allowing donors to give directly through its platform. And geographic borders haven’t proved to be much of an obstacle.
The report says ActBlue’s system did not check the number against a government database or otherwise confirm that the passport was legitimate. ActBlue’s own policy described the process as “very basic validation.”
The report, released by the Committee on House Administration, the House Judiciary Committee, and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, alleges ActBlue weakened fraud- prevention standards during the 2024 election cycle despite concerns about fraudulent and potentially illegal foreign contributions.
Internal records reviewed by the committees also show supervisors repeatedly telling fraud analysts to give donors the “benefit of the doubt” when reviewing flagged contributions. Of course they did because federal law prohibits foreign nationals from making contributions in connection with U.S. elections and they didn’t want to lose any donations.
ActBlue denies the allegations and says Republicans are conducting a politically motivated investigation.
The congressional investigation is still underway, and whether it ultimately leads to legal consequences remains to be seen. But when billions of dollars are flowing through an online political fundraising platform, “very basic validation” probably isn’t the phrase voters want to hear when the subject is keeping illegal foreign money out of American elections.