President Donald Trump signed a memorandum cracking down on foreign campaign donations and illegal straw donors. Democratic groups are well known for using this money for Democratic campaigns. The largest group by far using these tactics is ActBlue. This follows Rep. Bryan Steil (R-WI) and multiple states’ Attorneys General investigations. Currently, 19 attorneys general have opened such investigations, including Texas, Arkansas, Florida, and Missouri.
The memorandum state:
Federal law (52 U.S.C. 30121 and 30122) strictly prohibits making political contributions in the name of another person, as well as contributions by foreign nationals.
Notwithstanding these laws designed to protect American democracy, press reports and investigations by congressional committees have generated extremely troubling evidence that online fundraising platforms have been willing participants in schemes to launder excessive and prohibited contributions to political candidates and committees.
Specifically, these reports raise concerns that malign actors are seeking to evade Federal source and amount limitations on political contributions by breaking down large contributions from one source into many smaller contributions, nominally attributed to numerous other individuals, potentially without the consent or even knowledge of the putative contributors. The reports also raise concerns that such “straw donations” are being made through “dummy” accounts, potentially using gift cards or prepaid credit cards to evade detection.
Further, there is evidence to suggest that foreign nationals are seeking to misuse online fundraising platforms to improperly influence American elections. A recent House of Representatives investigation revealed that a platform named ActBlue had in recent years detected at least 22 “significant fraud campaigns”, nearly half of which had a foreign nexus. During a 30-day window during the 2024 campaign, the platform detected 237 donations from foreign IP addresses using prepaid cards, indicating that this activity remains a pressing concern.
VISIT OUR YOUTUBE CHANNELThese activities undermine the integrity of our electoral process. Therefore, I direct the Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, to use all lawful authority, as necessary, to investigate allegations regarding the unlawful use of online fundraising platforms to make “straw” or “dummy” contributions or foreign contributions to political candidates and committees, and to take all appropriate actions to enforce the law.
I further direct the Attorney General to report back to me through the Counsel to the President within 180 days of the date of this memorandum on the results of the investigation.
This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
DONALD J. TRUMP
The thread of short clips below from Badlands Media’s Why We Vote podcast in November 2024 documents some of the findings of Bernegger’s team, as well as the methods by which these monies are being laundered back to the United States and disbursed to campaigns.
Bernegger insists that these funds are mostly from taxpayer funds sent overseas, with portions being sent back to the United States through gift cards and then disbursed to political campaigns through fundraising platforms like ActBlue.
It’s not just ActBlue and Democrats benefiting from this scheme, however. Last month, on the Why We Vote podcast, Bernegger revealed that Senator Ted Cruz has also shown up as a recipient of these smurf funds through WinRed, the GOP equivalent of ActBlue. Bernegger has claimed that the distribution of funds is about 85% ActBlue to 15% WinRed.
🧵With the Federal Elections Commission opening up public comment for a rule change regarding how credit card donations are processed (calling for a rule change requiring the CVV number captured), it is worth noting a couple things that exemplify our government's inefficiency as… pic.twitter.com/wYD6aC3Mvq
— CannCon (@CannConActual) November 29, 2024
