Revised Article:
Democratic Online Fundraising Platforms under Fire from Trump
The Great Democratic Fundraising Scrutiny: Trump's Crusade Against ActBlue
Hold onto your party hats, folks! The ongoing political drama just leveled up a notch as President Trump sets his sights on ActBlue, the Democratic Party's treasured grassroots fundraising powerhouse. In an explosive executive order, the Trump administration has ignited a plan to dig deep into the inner workings of ActBlue, shining a bright light on potential fundraising misconduct.
The executive order – released mercilessly on the White House website – claims a troubling specter haunts online fundraising sites like ActBlue: the specter of "foreign nationals" making monstrous contributions to American elections under the cover of night. The order grants Attorney General Pam Bondi and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant the authority to delve into such sites, searching for incriminating evidence of malfeasance. The order spits venomously:
Reports and congressional committees have unleashed alarming evidence that online fundraising platforms have joyfully played the role of accomplices in schemes to launder excess and doppackt contributions to political candidates and committees.
The order continues its bloodcurdling recitation:
These reports particularly concern us because evil actors are apparently trying to slip through the cracks, cleverly evading Federal source and amount limitations on political contributions by breaking down gigantic contributions into a thousand tiny, seemingly innocent contributions and falsely crediting them to an army of unsuspecting namens. To make matters worse, they're creating "dummy" accounts, using gift cards or pre-paid credit cards to evade detection.
The order empowers Bondi and Bessant to use "all legal authority, as necessary," to investigate these fundraising tools for signs of foreign influence. Gizmodo, like a curious beast, pounced on the Trump administration for more information.
The order also references an earlier probe by House Republicans into ActBlue, which ostensibly turned up evidence of foreign-based fraud on the platform.
It's important to note that the Republicans have their own fundraising machine that sprang to life during Trump's first term. WinRed, hatched in 2019, is a for-profit fundraising tool, a means for the GOP to give the Democrats a run for their money. The Trump administration has been aggressively pushing Republicans to use WinRed, which has failed to achieve even half the success of its Democratic counterpart, and has often been a thorn in the side of its own Republicans. WinRed, in its short life, has suffered criticism from its own party members, and has even been investigated by several state attorneys general for its shady tactics.
Sources:
- CBS News
- Daily Beast
- Politico
- The executive order, maligning ActBlue, accuses online fundraising sites of laundering excess contributions to political candidates.
- Gizmodo, curious about the Trump administration's intentions, has sought more information regarding the order.
- The order empowers Attorney General Pam Bondi and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant to search for evidence of malfeasance in fundraising tools, citing potential foreign influence.
- In the general news, it's been reported that House Republicans have previously probed ActBlue for evidence of foreign-based fraud.
- Despite the Republicans' own fundraising tool, WinRed, failing to achieve half the success of ActBlue, the Trump administration has been aggressively pushing Republicans to use it.
- WinRed, plagued with shady tactics, has been investigated by several state attorneys general and criticized by its own party members.
