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Trump's attack on ActBlue violates the First Amendment
Trump's attack on ActBlue violates the First Amendment
by Austin Sarat, opinion contributor - 05/06/25 8:00 AM ET. The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the view of The Hill.
President Trump is at it again, accusing his political opponents of fraud and corruption. This time, he is targeting ActBlue, a major fundraising platform for Democratic candidates at the local, state and national levels.
Since 2004, when it was established, ActBlue has collected almost $17 billion for Democrats and affiliated causes.
That's what 21st-century authoritarians do: They retain the forms of democracy but do everything they can to tip the scales in their favor.
In this case, Trump is drawing from a familiar playbook, clothing his latest act of election interference with the pretext that he is protecting election integrity.
As the White House put it in a 'fact sheet' accompanying the announcement of a Justice Department investigation of ActBlue, 'Voters deserve elections they can trust, and that confidence is being restored thanks to President Trump,' who supposedly 'is following through on his promise to secure our elections.'
Trump directed his attorney general 'to investigate and take appropriate action concerning allegations regarding the use of online fundraising platforms to make 'straw' or 'dummy' contributions and to make foreign contributions to U.S. political candidates and committees, all of which break the law.' He alleges 'significant fraud schemes using ActBlue' and claims ActBlue 'has become notorious for its lax standards that enable unverified and fraudulent donations.'
This pretext should not take us in.
As the New York Times put it, 'The move steps up Republicans' efforts to cripple their opponents' political infrastructure' and 'is likely to create vulnerabilities for the entire Democratic fund-raising apparatus.'
ActBlue is just such an association, and the Trump administration's attack on it threatens the values to which Brennan so eloquently gave voice.