Democrats' Online Fundraising Systems Under Attack by Trump
Firing Up Fundraising Battles
President Trump is brewing up a political storm by zeroing in on the online war chests that largely fuel Democratic campaign coffers. In a shocking move on a Thursday, Trump unleashed an executive order to scrutinize ActBlue, the go-to digital fundraising tool for Democrats.
This explosive executive order, available on the White House website, accuses fundraising sites such as ActBlue of potentially letting foreign nationals meddle in American elections. It empowers the brand new Attorney General, Pam Bondi, and Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessant, to root out any signs of misconduct within such sites. The order reveals:
...whispers and investigations by congressional committees have sparked some seriously worrisome info about online fundraising platforms that have knowingly partaken in schemes to bypass Federal limits on political donations.
The order continues:
In particular, these whispers hint at bad actors attempting to sneak by Federal contribution restrictions by splitting large, single donations into numerous smaller contributions, falsely attributed to countless other individuals, without their consent or, at times, even their knowledge. The whispers also flag concerns about "straw donations" being dumped through phony accounts, potentially using gift cards or pre-paid credit cards to dodge detection.
Bondi and Bessant are now armed with the authority to sniff out signs of alien influence on these fundraising tools. Gizmodo scribbled off an email to the Trump administration, seeking clarity.
The order also references a preceding probe by House Republicans into ActBlue that supposedly unearthed evidence of foreign-tainted fraud on the platform.
It's worth mentioning that Republicans have their own fundraising endeavor, birthed during Trump's initial term. WinRed was unveiled in 2019 as a profit-driven fundraising vehicle, created for the GOP to rival Democrats' ActBlue. Ever since, the Trump administration has been pushing Republicans to embrace this tool, but it hasn't exactly been a top performer, often criticized by its own party members[5][6]. WinRed has had its fair share of scrutiny from several state attorneys general due to its aggressive fundraising tactics[7].
[1] https://www.npr.org/2025/04/24/1098635899/trump-orders-justice-department-to-investigate-actblue-over-possible-foreign-ende[2] https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/24/politics/trump-actblue-investigation/index.html[3] https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/24/trump-actblue-investigation-471281[4] https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/04/24/trump-actblue-investigation-laundering/[5] https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-republicans-actblue-winred-852162/[6] https://www.axios.com/trump-republicans-actblue-competitor-winred-fundraising-8d114f85-79dd-4e0a-90d6-ac8b8925bec3.html[7] https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/us/politics/georgia-attorney-general-actblue-lawsuit.html
- The future of tech-oriented policy-and-legislation is heating up, as Trump's recent executive order targets digital fundraising platforms like ActBlue, accusing them of potential foreign meddling in elections.
- Gizmodo has requested clarification from the administration regarding the order, which also references a previous probe by House Republicans into ActBlue.
- The order empowers the Attorney General, Pam Bondi, and Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessant, to uncover any misconduct within these platforms, citing concerns about foreign funds evading contribution restrictions.
- Whispers and investigations have suggested that some platforms knowingly participate in schemes to bypass federal limits on political donations, perhaps by splitting large donations into smaller contributions or using gift cards to dodge detection.
- Republican counterpart WinRed, introduced during Trump's initial term, has faced similar scrutiny due to its aggressive fundraising tactics, with several state attorneys general raising concerns about its operations.
- Politics aside, the tech industry and general news outlets are closely watching the developments in this arena, as the role of technology in fundraising and political campaigns continues to evolve.
