Cooper Announces Record Fundraising Haul, Powered By Platform Under Investigation for Fraud
Today, Governor Roy Cooper announced that he raised a record $14.5 million in the first fundraising quarter after he launched his campaign for U.S. Senate. Cooper ran a shadow campaign since he left the Governor’s mansion, allowing him plenty of time to line up donors once he officially launched. Additionally, Cooper raised $40 million for his 2020 gubernatorial election.
Last week, Republican Michael Whatley announced his haul of $6 million, a record for a Republican Senate candidate. Notably, Whatley said the average contribution was $15 dollars, while Cooper claimed a vague “more than 90% of our contributions are $100 or less.” Both candidates are on track with strong fundraising operations.
One specter hangs over Cooper’s campaign operation: the federal investigation into ActBlue. ActBlue is the go to fundraising platform for establishment Democrats, like Cooper, is currently being investigated by federal authorities for potential fraud. ActBlue denied these accusations and accused Republicans of waging a partisan attack, but several senior staffers left the organization once the House Republicans began their investigation in earnest.
This April, the House Oversight Committee released a report titled, “Fraud On ActBlue: How Demosrats’ Top Fundraising Platform Opens The Door For Illegal Election Contributions.”
Here is a key quote from the report, “Internal documents show that ActBlue executives and staff are aware that both foreign and domestic fraudulent actors are exploiting the platform but do not take the threat seriously. In fact, they attempted to hide the changes to avoid sparking discussions about fraud on the platform. For example, ActBlue’s training guide for new fraud-prevention employees instructed them to ‘look for reasons to accept contributions,’ rather than err on the side of flagging suspicious donations. Internal communications further reveal that, rather than seeking to reduce or eliminate fraud, ActBlue’s chief fraud-prevention official was willing to accept 10 percent more fraud while focusing on DEI. Additionally, in a thirty-day window during September and October 2024, ActBlue detected 237 separate donations made from foreign IP addresses using domestic prepaid cards.”
After the initial investigation revealed serious concerns, the House Oversight Committee expanded its investigation and is currently working on a broader report. After the release of the House Oversight report, President Donald Trump asked for the Attorney General in consultation with the U.S. Treasury to investigate allegations regarding illegal straw donor scams. The report for this investigation is due on October 22nd. Several Republican Attorneys General are also launching several state level investigations into ActBlue.
These investigations come after several reports of individuals saying that someone donated in their name, and banks flagging suspicious transactions from ActBlue. For example, the Fair Election Fund Project identified 60,000 potentially fraudulent donations facilitated by ActBlue.
