Judicial Watch Sues FEC for Records on ActBlue Donor Fraud Allegations

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Federal Election Commission (FEC) for records related to alleged fraudulent donor activities by the Democrat fundraising platform ActBlue (Judicial Watch Inc. v Federal Election Commission (No. 1:26-cv-00149)).

Judicial Watch filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after the Federal Election Commission failed to respond to a September 2025 FOIA request for:

1. Records, including reports, audits, or investigations of ActBlue’s donor verification processes, donor irregularities or potential donor fraud.

2. Communications between the [Federal Election Commission’s] Office of Compliance and any state attorney general’s office or the U.S. Department of Justice, about any alleged irregularities in ActBlue’s donor verification policies and procedures, donor irregularities, or potential donor fraudulent activity.

ActBlue is the primary online fundraising platform for Democrat candidates, political action committees (PACs), and progressive causes. It processes billions in small-dollar donations.

According to an April 2025 congressional joint interim staff report, “Fraud on ActBlue: How the Democrats’ Top Fundraising Platform Opens the Door for Illegal Election Contributions:”

Internal documents … show that ActBlue staff and executives fail to take the threat of fraud seriously. ActBlue employees regularly demonstrated an unfounded belief that bad actors were not seeking to fraudulently contribute to Democrat campaigns and causes. For example, ActBlue’s training guide for new fraud-prevention employees instructed them to “look for reasons to accept contributions,” rather than err on the side of flagging a suspicious donation.

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Altogether, ActBlue’s internal documents and communications paint a damning picture: despite repeated instances of fraudulent donations to Democrat campaigns and causes from domestic and foreign sources, ActBlue is not demonstrating a serious effort to deter fraud on its platform. [Emphasis in original] At best, ActBlue’s conduct displays a profound disrespect for the principle that only Americans should decide American elections. At worst, it may violate the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA), which states that persons who “knowingly accept a contribution made by one person in the name of another person” may face criminal liability.

“There are legitimate, grave concerns that ActBlue has enabled illegal fundraising,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “By failing to prevent widespread straw-donor schemes and other tactics, it is likely that fraudulent and even foreign-sourced contributions have crept into Democrat campaign coffers.”

Judicial Watch is a national leader in election integrity and voting rights litigation, with a record of successful lawsuits enforcing constitutional redistricting standards and cleaning voter rolls nationwide.

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