Texas AG Paxton files criminal referral against DOJ from 'suspicious donations' through Democratic group
With Election Day just around the corner, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton fired off a criminal referral against the Biden administration's Department of Justice alleging that a popular progressive fundraising platform was interfering in the presidential election.
"My investigation uncovered evidence showing that bad actors are likely using ActBlue's platform to make illegal campaign contributions. It is illegal to engage in election fraud, and it is illegal to obscure one's identity to flout election rules." Paxton wrote in a X post Thursday.
"The Department of Justice must take immediate action to prevent illegal conduct in our elections," he said.
The Texas attorney general wrote in a letter penned to Attorney General Merrick Garland that his office discovered "highly suspicious campaign contributions" made through the online political committee contribution platform.
"That investigation has uncovered alarming evidence showing that anonymous actors are systematically making contribution through ActBlue's platform in the name of other people," Paxton wrote. "This conduct appears to be criminal in a number of ways, including under 18 U.S.C 1343 (wire fraud; 18 U.S.C 1028 (identity theft); and 52 U.S.C. 30122 (making contributions in the name of another)."
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ActBlue targets small-dollar donations, the Hill first reported, and has been an integral part of the Democratic fundraising structure, collecting an estimated $1.5 billion from about 7 million donors.
While that influx of cash was split among nearly 19,000 campaigns, an excessive amount has gone to the highest profile races. In just the first few days of the Harris campaign, for example, donors gave her $200 million through the platform, per ActBlue’s account on the social platform X, the Hill reported.
In his letter to Garland, Paxton shared the petition with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and urged changes that would close alleged "loopholes." Paxton said that these alleged "loopholes" could be "exploited to illegally funnel money into American elections."
The petition came after Paxton opened an investigation into ActBlue in Dec. 2023 to determine whether the platform’s operations were compliant with all applicable laws.
In August 2024, Paxton revealed that an investigation into ActBlue determined that the group began requiring donors using credit cards to provide "CVV" codes, a common security measure.
However, Paxton said it appeared that "straw donations" were systematically being made using false identities, through untraceable payment methods.
"I have made a criminal referral to the U.S. Department of Justice based on the findings from our investigation into ActBlue. My investigation uncovered evidence showing that bad actors are likely using ActBlue’s platform to make illegal campaign contributions," Paxton said in a statement. "It is illegal to engage in election fraud and it is illegal to obscure one’s identity to flout election rules. The Department of Justice must take immediate action to prevent illegal conduct in our elections."
Fox News Digital reached out to ActBlue and the FEC for comment.
Fox News Digital's Stepheny Price contributed to this report.