Trump to target ActBlue in presidential memorandum

[In It to Win It]

In a shot at ActBlue, the left’s major online donation platform, President Donald Trump plans to sign a presidential memorandum on Thursday cracking down on foreign contributions in American elections, according to a person familiar with the policy and granted anonymity to discuss not-yet-public details.

Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office is expected to be involved in the crackdown, the person said, though further details about the mechanism she will use were not immediately available. The order is expected to specifically target ActBlue, which Republicans have long claimed could be exploited by foreign actors.

Democrats had been bracing in recent days for potential action from the White House against the platform, casting it as an unwarranted attack on their fundraising efforts. In an email to Democrats on Wednesday referring to a potential coming action from the White House targeting the platform, ActBlue CEO Regina Wallace-Jones wrote, “Nothing will deter or interrupt ActBlue’s mission and work to enable millions of Americans to participate in our democracy. There is an ongoing and persistent effort to weaken the confidence of the American people in what’s possible. This is the next version of ‘the big lie.’”

On Thursday, ActBlue told POLITICO, “ActBlue plays a vital role in enabling all Americans to participate in our democracy and the organization strictly abides by all federal and state laws governing its activities. We will always stand steadfast in defending the rights of all Americans to participate in our democracy and ActBlue will continue its mission undeterred and uninterrupted, providing a safe, secure fundraising platform for the millions of grassroots donors who rely on us.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/24/trump-to-target-actblue-in-presidential-memorandum-00307251

[FloridaBlues]

1. But not any republican site for donations

[Kid Berwyn]

2. Exemptions?

What Did Trump Discuss in Calls With Mohammed bin Salman and Vladimir Putin That Got the Extra-Secrecy Treatment?

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/10/trump-mbs-putin-calls-also-hidden-incriminating.html

From 2019 and we still don’t know.

[Basso8vb]

3. He will leave us with nothing but extrajudicial solutions.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

4. Trump to target ActBlue in presidential memorandum

I have been the treasurer for a couple of corporate gpacs and have been active with the county party off an on. ActBlue is a great tool and is far better the GOP's WinRed. The GOP tried and failed to duplicate ActBlue and now trump wants to use a silly executive order to go after ActBlue

Link to tweet

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/24/trump-to-target-actblue-in-presidential-memorandum-00307251

In a shot at ActBlue, the left’s major online donation platform, President Donald Trump plans to sign a presidential memorandum on Thursday cracking down on foreign contributions in American elections, according to a person familiar with the policy and granted anonymity to discuss not-yet-public details.

Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office is expected to be involved in the crackdown, the person said, though further details about the mechanism she will use were not immediately available. The order is expected to specifically target ActBlue, which Republicans have long claimed could be exploited by foreign actors.

Democrats had been bracing in recent days for potential action from the White House against the platform, casting it as an unwarranted attack on their fundraising efforts. In an email to Democrats on Wednesday referring to a potential coming action from the White House targeting the platform, ActBlue CEO Regina Wallace-Jones wrote, “Nothing will deter or interrupt ActBlue’s mission and work to enable millions of Americans to participate in our democracy. There is an ongoing and persistent effort to weaken the confidence of the American people in what’s possible. This is the next version of ‘the big lie.’”

On Thursday, ActBlue told POLITICO, “ActBlue plays a vital role in enabling all Americans to participate in our democracy and the organization strictly abides by all federal and state laws governing its activities. We will always stand steadfast in defending the rights of all Americans to participate in our democracy and ActBlue will continue its mission undeterred and uninterrupted, providing a safe, secure fundraising platform for the millions of grassroots donors who rely on us.”

[LetMyPeopleVote]

5. Maddow Blog-Trump signs order targeting Democrats' fundraising platform, sparking authoritarian fears

Sometimes, the president’s authoritarian tactics are subtle. His new offensive against the ActBlue donation platform is far more overt.
https://bsky.app/profile/democracyblue.bsky.social/post/3lnnn6eeakk23

Trump signs order targeting Democrats’ fundraising platform, sparking authoritarian fears
Sometimes, the president’s authoritarian tactics are subtle. His new offensive against the ActBlue donation platform is far more overt.

Link to tweet

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-signs-order-targeting-democrats-fundraising-platform-sparking-au-rcna202970

For many years, Republican officials looked at ActBlue with envy. The more the donation platform positioned itself as an effective and successful tool that fueled the Democratic Party’s fundraising, the more GOP insiders wished they had something comparable......

It was against this backdrop that Donald Trump took matters one step further, signing an executive memorandum aimed at investigating his political opposition’s infrastructure. NBC News reported:

The memorandum directs Attorney General Pam Bondi 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 appropriate action to enforce the law.’ It specifically names ActBlue as an online fundraising platform being used ‘to improperly influence American elections.’

Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee, issued a compelling written statement soon after the president’s move, describing it as “a striking development.”

“Donald Trump pocketed millions of dollars in unlawful payments from foreign governments during his first term, his Administration shut down a probe into whether his campaign received an illegal and urgent $10 million bribe from Egypt, and foreign nationals are spending millions on Trump-owned cryptocurrencies right now in apparent hopes of buying their way out of federal criminal investigations through undisclosed payments. The Trump Administration has also systematically dismantled crime-fighting efforts at the Department of Justice aimed at foreign corruption of our politics and actually announced its indifference to violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

“So it’s rich indeed for Americans to read now that Trump has launched a big initiative to ‘crack down on foreign influence’ in American politics with one purpose — crippling the fundraising platform of his political opponents.

“Today’s presidential decree targeting the campaign infrastructure of the Democratic Party with precisely zero evidence of wrongdoing is the kind of edict you’d expect from a power-mad dictator in a Banana Republic. This president, with his approval ratings underwater and sinking like a stone, is desperately seeking to undermine his political opposition by cutting off their access to funding.”......

I’m also reminded of a recent New York Times analysis — published weeks before the directive related to ActBlue — about the scope and direction of Trump’s efforts against Democratic politics.

Executive actions intended to cripple top Democratic law firms. Investigations of Democratic fund-raising and organizing platforms. Ominous suggestions that nonprofits aligned with Democrats or critical of President Trump should have their tax exemptions revoked. Mr. Trump and his allies are aggressively attacking the players and machinery that power the left, taking a series of highly partisan official actions that, if successful, will threaten to hobble Democrats’ ability to compete in elections for years to come.

Sometimes, Trump’s authoritarian tactics are subtle. The new offensive against ActBlue was far more overt.

I have lost count of the number of emails/texts that I have received on this. I am current the treasurer of one gpac and have been the treasurer of several other gpacs in the past. ActBlue is careful about donors and this attack will not go anywhere