Several progressive candidates for 2026 are still using ActBlue to collect campaign donations, even as investigations by Congress continue and there are claims from Democratic donors suggesting something suspicious is going on with the fundraising platform.
More than 9,000 individuals have received funds through ActBlue, including prominent Democratic figures like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from New York, Sen. Bernie Sanders from Vermont, and Abdul El-Sayed, who is running for Senate in Michigan, as well as candidates in various state, county, and school district elections.
A video released in late July brought fresh attention to the ongoing investigations into alleged corruption, particularly after it was revealed that an 88-year-old woman from a Michigan mobile home had donated over $150,000 through 1,500 separate contributions in the last five years.
“It’s just insane. I don’t have that kind of money,” said Elizabeth Waffle, the woman in question, who lost her house to a fire two years ago and now lives in a mobile home. Interestingly, a reporter once offered to pay her to mow her overgrown lawn when she mentioned money issues.
“$150,000 seems really unusual. I think there’s something wrong here,” Waffle stated, noting that she has used ActBlue multiple times.
Since it was founded in 2004, ActBlue has raised over $19 billion, primarily for Democratic and progressive candidates. However, over the last couple of years, it has faced a joint House committee investigation for reportedly failing to prevent unlawful foreign donations and issues of internal misconduct.
The joint interim staff report from the House Administration, Judiciary, and Oversight Committees indicated that despite signs of widespread fraud, ActBlue claims to have adopted a more lenient approach toward potential fraud.
The findings were based on internal documents that suggested some ActBlue executives might have been exploiting the platform by instructing staff to “look for reasons to accept donations” and making efforts to conceal these practices.
The committee also uncovered that ActBlue had identified 237 donations that originated from foreign IP addresses using domestic prepaid cards within just one month.
In a report released in 2026, the same committee revealed that the legal and compliance teams at ActBlue had departed after the 2024 elections, including findings that five current and former employees invoked the Fifth Amendment during deposition sessions.
The commission’s report stated, “All members of ActBlue’s legal and compliance team appear to have left the platform after the 2024 election due to their ‘knowing and intentional’ acceptance of illegal foreign contributions and attempts to cover it up.”
ActBlue responded to the allegations by asserting that it had not obstructed the congressional committee’s investigation, claiming it had cooperated beyond legal requirements. “ActBlue is a safe and secure fundraising platform that allows millions of Americans to engage at the grassroots level in essential democratic processes,” their statement read, noting their role over the past 21 years in supporting democracy.
Despite the allegations, key Democratic figures have continued their associations with ActBlue and are still making campaign donations. Some Democrats have even suggested that the right is ignoring fraud issues related to Republican fundraising, implying that the scrutiny directed at ActBlue is hypocritical. Others have argued that targeting ActBlue could be racially motivated, referring to its black founder and CEO.
ActBlue did not reply to a request for comment from The Daily Caller.
