Palmetto State News

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson has issued a letter to the CEO of ActBlue, addressing allegations that the political fundraising group may have engaged in potentially fraudulent or illegal activities.

ActBlue is a political action committee and fundraising platform that serves left-leaning and Democratic nonprofits and politicians. In his letter, Wilson expressed concerns about alleged activities involving "smurfing," a money laundering technique where large sums are broken down into smaller, less conspicuous donations.

“It has come to my attention that these alleged activities may include ‘smurfing,’ a money laundering technique where large sums of money are ‘donated’ to a political candidate (or committee), and are broken down through smaller, less conspicuous amounts. Based on publicly accessible information, some individual donors in South Carolina have purportedly donated funds through ActBlue in prolific volumes that appear implausible and highly suspicious,” wrote Attorney General Wilson.

Wilson's letter raises questions about whether contributions made through ActBlue could be from straw-donors or fictitious accounts, suggesting possible fraud. Additionally, he questioned whether contributions were made without donors' knowledge or consent.

If proven true, these allegations could constitute violations of South Carolina laws as well as the Federal Election Campaign Act.

“South Carolinians are entitled to transparency and the assurance that nonprofit and political entities are financed legally. Any deviation from this transparency undermines the integrity of our elections and political processes. And as the chief legal officer in South Carolina, it is my duty to ensure unequivocal compliance with the law,” Wilson wrote to Regina Wallace Jones, CEO of ActBlue.

The Attorney General requested that ActBlue provide a detailed description of its processes for verifying donor information legitimacy by Friday, September 6th.