Dem fundraiser ActBlue stole GOP strategists identity to make donations: lawsuit

ActBlue, the Democratic fundraising platform that has collected millions of dollars for Kamala Harris, has been named in a bombshell racketeering lawsuit by a Wisconsin Republican strategist who alleges his identity was stolen to make at least 385 fraudulent donations to left-wing causes — including to the Harris Victory Fund.Mark Block, former chief of staff to Republican 2012 presidential candidate Herman Cain, alleges that a total of $884.38 given in his name and without his knowledge between May and October was designed to circumvent federal election law and may be part of a larger scam involving tens of thousands of unwitting donors.The individual donations were all under $200, meaning that they did not have to be reported to the Federal Election Commission (FEC).Block describes the scheme as “smurfing,” a form of money laundering that involves breaking up large-scale campaign donations into smaller amounts to disguise the real donor and allow the bypassing of contribution limits.He alleges that the ActBlue donations qualify as “racketeering activity” under Wisconsin law and has requested a temporary injunction prohibiting any more donations in his name.Block said he discovered ActBlue donation receipts in his old Cain campaign email account, including 35 earmarked to Kamala Harris and one to an LGBTQ campaign.The GOP-led House Committee on House Administration is already investigating claims that donations in the names of oblivious donors like Block are being laundered by ActBlue including via gift cards and prepaid credit cards.Experts working for the committee used AI to analyze more than 200 million FEC records spanning the last 14 years and identified suspicious trends, including hundreds of $2.50 donations from the same individual, donations in amounts far greater than the donor could afford, and unusually frequent donations from elderly people or first-time contributors.Block’s lawsuit is expected to be the first of many related to the invest...