Lawyers for ActBlue, a primary fundraising platform for the Democratic Party, admitted that ActBlue officers likely misled congressional Republicans about how they screen donations from foreign sources.
For example, ActBlue president and CEO Regina Wallace-Jones told Congress that ActBlue had initiated “multilayered” screenings of contributions to help “root out” foreign donations. However, ActBlue’s former law firm, Covington & Burling, found that those steps were not always followed.
“This presents a substantial risk for ActBlue,” the law firm stated in a memo. As a result, the organization is facing greater scrutiny, including Justice Department investigations and Congressional subpoenas regarding allegations of lax vetting for foreign donations, potential “straw donor” schemes, and internal turmoil.
Wallace-Jones stated that her 2023 letter to the House Administration Committee was accurate in the context of its writing. Following the revelations, ActBlue severed ties with Covington & Burling and claimed in a press release that the law firm had been dishonest.
“If we cannot look to our legacy newsrooms for honest reporting, which we know is inconsistent, we must share the truth ourselves,” the press release said. The statement was headlined: “Don’t be distracted by those who want to rewrite our history or undermine our mission.”
But the fact remains that ActBlue’s history has been plagued by questionable donations supporting questionable causes.
Six years ago, Kamala Harris solicited funds through ActBlue for the Minnesota Freedom Fund to pay bail for rioters and looters. In October 2022, a report indicated that the Pride Liberation Project, a pro-trans group, promised to help “queer” children escape from their parents and find safety with “queer-friendly adults,” using donations processed through ActBlue.
In November 2023, another report stated that ActBlue donations were used to fund activities supporting Hamas, a Palestinian terrorist group. Last November, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., solicited donations through ActBlue for a Thanksgiving turkey drive, but instead of purchasing turkeys for the needy, ActBlue diverted the funds directly into the congresswoman’s campaign account.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton stated that ActBlue did not require credit card verification values (CVV codes) for all donations, a policy that drew scrutiny regarding potential fraud and foreign influence. In response to investigations and security concerns, ActBlue claims to have updated its policies in 2024 to increase CVV usage and strengthen anti-fraud measures, including blocking certain prepaid cards.
It is not just ActBlue that has accepted illegal foreign donations. Federal investigations confirmed that Barack Obama accepted foreign donations during his 2012 reelection campaign, often through “straw donors” to conceal the true source.
But it is not only illegal campaign donations with Democrats. Last month, civil liberties attorney Laura Powell uncovered video of members of a new Democrat-aligned political group called Building a Better California offering homeless people $5 cash to sign petitions using names other than their own.
The list goes on, which brings us to the issue of theme song.
Back in 1932, “Happy Days Are Here Again” became the unofficial theme song for the Democratic Party and was used by Franklin D. Roosevelt during his campaign to promote optimism during the Great Depression. The last time it was used as an official campaign song was in 1960 for John F. Kennedy.
Since then, the Democrats have been a party in search of a new theme song. Thanks to the Democratic Party’s own questionable activities, that search is now over.
When country music legend Hank Williams wrote and recorded his 1952 hit song, he could not have imagined it would someday become an ideal Democrat theme song. That song was “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” and it’s a perfect fit for today’s Democrats.
