In December 2023, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton initiated an investigation into the major fundraising platform ActBlue to assess its compliance with applicable laws. ActBlue has faced numerous allegations of illicit activities, including claims that its platform may facilitate fraud. A key focus of the investigation is ActBlue’s previous failure to require donors to provide “CVV” codes when making credit card donations on the platform, a commonly required security measure.
Today, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) issued a supplemental civil investigative demand for additional information relevant to recent allegations concerning ActBlue.
“ActBlue has cooperated with our ongoing investigation. They have changed their requirements to now include ‘CVV’ codes for donations on their platform. This is a critical change that can help prevent fraudulent donations,” said Attorney General Paxton. “But it is most important that we enforce the law and protect the integrity of our elections. Certain features of campaign finance law may incentivize bad actors to use platforms like ActBlue to covertly move money to political campaigns to evade legal requirements. While campaign finance is protected by the First Amendment, suspicious activity on fundraising platforms must be fully investigated to determine if any laws have been broken.”