Cnn
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President Donald Trump signed a memorandum targeting Actblue on Thursday, the main fund collection platform of the Democratic Party – targeting one of the key pillars of financial infrastructure for Democratic candidates.
An information sheet on the memo said that she ordered the Attorney General Pam Bondi to launch an investigation into online fundraising platforms in order to suppress illegal “straw donors” – or those who make donations on behalf of others – and foreign contributions in the US elections.
He specifically quotes Actblue, which was the subject of surveys of the GOP congress and criticism from Trump’s allies, including the Donor billionaire Elon Musk.
The memo marks Trump’s latest efforts to use his office to distinguish individuals and organizations he considers to act against his interests – ranging from law firms who have represented Democrats to Chris Krebs, a former Trump administration official who rejected the claims of the president that a general fraud contributed to his loss of 2020.
“The targeting of the Trump administration and the GOP for Actblue is part of their cheeky attack on democracy in America,” the organization said in a statement on Thursday afternoon. “The climbing of the White House today is clearly illegal and must be seen for what it is: Donald Trump’s last front in his campaign to eliminate any political, electoral and ideological opposition.”
The group said that it “would immediately pursue all legal avenues to protect itself and defend itself against the baseless complaints of the administration”.
In a letter to the Democratic supporters Wednesday obtained by CNN, the president and chief executive officer of the Regina Wallace-Jones platform said that the organization provided for a decision of this type of Trump.
“Nothing will dissuade or interrupt the Actblue mission and work to allow millions of Americans to participate in our democracy,” wrote Wallace-Jones. She noted that the platform had raised more than $ 400 million during the three months of this year – establishing a new record for a single quarter of fundraising.
Politico first reported Trump’s plans to target Actblue.
Trump’s action marks the latest assault on the Republican platform. Congress Republicans investigated Actblue, alleging that he does not adequately save against fraud – an accusation that Actblue officials denied. And earlier this month, three GOP-led chamber committees published an interim staff report that argued that the non-profit organization had not done enough to deal with the threats of the platform by foreign and national “fraudulent actors”.
The report argued that even if Actblue has updated some of its practices – such as no longer accepting gift cards for donations and forcing donors to add a CVV, the three or four -digit number found on the back of a credit card, when submission of contributions – that “the group’s general attitude towards fraud prevention is insective”.
The representative of the Wisconsin Gop, Bryan Steil – who chairs the Chamber Administration Committee, one of the panels investigating on Actblue – qualified the note as “large stage in the fight to prevent poor actors from channeling illicit money in our elections”.
Trump’s memo orders Bondi to report the results of the investigation to Trump, through the council to the president.
ActBlue is a power to collect funds for democrats and progressive groups – helping to channel donations into small dollars to candidates, party committees and others. In all, it has collected more than $ 16.8 billion since its foundation in 2004, according to an operating statement on its website.
Although he has competitors, he has long dominated online treatment payments for candidates and liberal causes. According to the platform, more than 14 million users have recorded their contact and payment information with the group, allowing contributors to easily make donations in one click.
But the increased criticisms of the Republicans are involved as Actblue faced an internal tumult – including the departure earlier this year of several high -level staff, as reported by the New York Times for the first time.
The Actblue probe intervenes as managers in organizations of the private left voice, fear that they could also become targets of Trump’s remuneration. A Federal Actblue investigation has raised concerns to alter efforts to collect funds from the Democratic Party before the mid-term elections next year, given its central role in the processing of donations.
Democrats were trying to use Trump’s imminent action on Thursday to increase more campaign dollars.
An e-mail appeal of the fundraising operation linked to the former vice-president Kamala Harris, for example, asked for donations for the National Democratic Committee.
“Donald Trump wants to make more difficult for people like you to contribute to democratic candidates, so it is easier for billionaires like Elon Musk to buy elections,” said e-mail, before asking for money to “retaliate against Republicans trying to designate donors of small dollars”.
This story and this title have been updated with additional developments.
Jeff Zelery de CNN has contributed to this report.
