<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway announced on September 25, 2026, that her office is initiating an investigation into ActBlue, the Democratic Party’s largest online fundraising platform, over allegations of accepting fraudulent and potentially illegal foreign political contributions.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Hanaway’s office has issued civil investigative demands to ActBlue, requesting documents and information related to its donation-processing and fraud-prevention practices. The company is required to produce the requested materials by October 8, 2026, according to the attorney general’s office.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“When political fundraising is compromised, public trust and the foundations of our democracy are put at risk,” Hanaway stated. “Missourians deserve a political system built on honesty and confidence that campaigns are not being financed through unlawful foreign sources.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The investigation will assess whether ActBlue processed fraudulent contributions that were directed to a Missouri political candidate, campaign, office, or committee, as indicated by Hanaway’s office.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><a href="https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/IF/HTML/IF10697.web.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Federal law prohibits</a> foreign nationals from contributing to U.S. elections, which includes contributions to candidates, political parties, and political committees.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">This Missouri investigation follows a nearly two-year congressional inquiry into ActBlue’s fraud-prevention practices. Earlier this month, the House Administration, Judiciary, and Oversight and Government Reform committees <a href="https://judiciary.house.gov/media/press-releases/new-report-actblues-failure-prevent-illegal-foreign-political-contributions" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">released their third joint interim report</a>, alleging that ActBlue did not adequately prevent illegal foreign contributions from reaching Democratic campaigns and organizations.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The Republican-led congressional investigation claimed that ActBlue’s fraud-prevention policies were relaxed multiple times in 2024 despite internal concerns regarding fraudulent donations. The committees also noted that ActBlue did not require donors to provide a valid U.S. passport when using its passport-verification system and that fraud analysts were sometimes instructed to give donors “the benefit of the doubt” when reviewing suspicious transactions.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">ActBlue has <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/4695155/actblue-cofounder-matt-debergalis-pleads-fifth-house-deposition/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">denied wrongdoing</a> and contested the congressional investigation’s characterization of its fraud-prevention practices.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">ActBlue plays a significant role in Democratic fundraising, processing donations for thousands of Democratic candidates, political committees, and progressive organizations. The platform <a href="https://www.actblue.com/posts/small-dollar-donors-shatter-records-nearly-1-8-billion-raised-in-2025/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">reported that more than</a> 22,700 campaigns, organizations, and committees utilized it in 2025, processing $1.78 billion in contributions.</p>