Three top lawyers for the Democratic fundraising organization ActBlue have been subpoenaed by members of the House Administration, Judiciary and Oversight committees who are probing the group’s ties to alleged fraudulent donations.
The individuals who have been summoned to be deposed by House investigators include former ActBlue general counsel Darrin Hurwitz and ex-director and associate general counsel Aaron Ting as well as another anonymous ActBlue lawyer.
They have been asked to appear for depositions on Oct. 15, 21 and 28.
The New York Post reports that records previously uncovered by the House committees show that Hurwitz, Ting and the unidentified counsel worked with the platform’s fraud prevention team to relax the organization’s donation standards during the 2024 election cycle.
ActBlue is accused of allowing debit and credit transactions to be processed without requiring a card verification value (CVV) until January 2024 and then further instructed employees to “look for reasons to accept contributions.”
In April and September of 2024, guidelines were further relaxed allowing between 14 and 28 fraudulent contributions each month.
A report released in March from House Oversight and Administration Committee staff, showed that ActBlue had 1900 fraudulent transactions between February 2022 and November 2024.
The letter released Thursday by the House committees, says, “Other internal ActBlue documents show that top fraud-prevention staff assessed that there were several mechanisms by which bad actors could evade ActBlue’s fraud-prevention systems and make illicit donations.”
In that letter, Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil (R-WI), Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY) affirmed that, “Congress has a specific interest in ensuring that bad actors, including foreign actors, cannot make fraudulent or illegal political donations through online fundraising platforms. Our oversight to date indicates that current law may be insufficient to stop these illicit donations.”
The organization was also found to have fraudulently used the names and personal confidential information of American citizens, without their knowledge or permission, to launder money through the ActBlue platform.