ActBlue Implements New Donor Verification Amidst Foreign Donation Probe
The Democratic fundraising platform announced a new passport verification program following accusations of inadequate checks for foreign contributions.
ActBlue, a major Democratic campaign fundraising platform, has introduced a new "passport verification program" aimed at strengthening donor verification standards for individuals contributing from abroad. The announcement comes days after House Republicans accused the platform of potentially accepting foreign donations for U.S. campaigns due to insufficient verification processes.
In a letter to House Republicans, attorneys for ActBlue stated that the new program is part of an "ongoing investment in the security of contributions processed from donors located abroad." The platform had previously paused donations from Americans abroad in 2025. ActBlue asserts that the new program uses advanced technology to verify the identity of eligible U.S. citizens located overseas using a valid U.S. passport, allowing them to resume supporting candidates and causes.
House Republicans have long alleged that ActBlue's verification standards were inadequate for identifying and rejecting illegitimate campaign donations. A report released earlier this month, previously highlighted by Fox News Digital, suggested that employees were approving donations despite questions about their origins. A particular concern raised by Republicans was ActBlue's passport number verification, which reportedly only checked for the correct number of characters rather than validating if the entered number belonged to a legitimate U.S. passport.
Committee on House Administration Chairman Bryan Steil, R-Wis., viewed ActBlue's announcement as an admission of past shortcomings. "This decision to implement a NEW passport verification program only confirms what we've been saying: ActBlue failed to verify the citizenship of individuals who made donations from abroad. That's unacceptable," Steil told Fox News Digital. He added that the new policy should have been in place from the start and that unanswered questions remain regarding the percentage of funds processed by ActBlue that may have originated from illegal foreign sources. Steil, along with House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., are leading the probe.
A spokesperson for Jordan commented that the action confirms the platform's fraud prevention measures were not as robust as previously stated to Congress, and that they will continue to seek answers. According to an earlier report from the Republicans, a letter from ActBlue CEO Regina Wallace-Jones to Steil indicated that donations from individuals with addresses outside the U.S. required a passport number for verification. However, the GOP's report alleged this verification did not confirm the validity of the passport number itself.
ActBlue has consistently denied wrongdoing. In response to the earlier report, the platform stated that the Republican investigation was a "political stunt" and an attempt to "silence organizations they believe threaten their agenda." The company pointed to a blog post announcing the updated verification process, reiterating their commitment to security and compliance standards. The blog post also stated that ActBlue had "accurately described" its vetting process to Congress.