After raising huge sums of money for left-wing candidates and committees, ActBlue, the most important online fundraising engine for the Democratic Party, has imploded. A series of resignations has been accompanied by accusations of nefarious financial dealings that prompted even the organization’s unions to call for an outside investigation. House Republicans have been investigating ActBlue’s suspicious activities for months. Senate Republicans should join them. The Trump administration should do everything in its power to speed up the findings of these inquiries and refer evidence of fraud to the Justice Department.
ActBlue has served as the online clearinghouse for Democratic online fundraising since 2004. Organized legally as a political action committee, ActBlue acts as a one-stop processing center for donors who want to give to Democratic Party candidates and causes. It means small-dollar donors don’t have to enter their credit card information into the websites of every entity they want to give money to. Instead, ActBlue allows them to enter their information one time and donate to as many candidates and committees as they like — the more, the better. This also makes life easier for Democratic candidates who can outsource their online donation infrastructure to a reliable and friendly partisan powerhouse.
