Disputed Fact
ActBlue Smurf donation profiles appear to violate federal law. 52 U.S.C. § 30122 (US) prohibits making a contribution in the name of another person, permitting one’s name to be used for such a contribution, or knowingly accepting a contribution made in another’s name. Criminal penalties attach at >$2,000 (misdemeanor) and >$25,000/year (felony).
Citations
52 U.S.C. § 30122, https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/52/30122
Rep. Bryan Steil, Chairman, House Committee on Administration, identified as anomalous the “receipt of a significant number of donations from individuals who are retired and live on a fixed income” and donations “disproportionate to a person’s net worth or previous giving history.” Steil Expanded Investigation Announcement (Aug. 5, 2024), https://cha.house.gov/2024/8/chairman-steil-launches-expanded-investigation-into-online-political-donations-through-actblue . Among the 18 Connecticut smurf-tier donors identified by Rapini, 10 had their occupation listed as “retired” and 3 as “not employed” in FEC data. Inside Investigator (June 2, 2025), https://insideinvestigator.org/acting-blue-evidence-of-fraudulent-political-donations-targeting-retirees/.
Political donation rates are strongly income-correlated and highly concentrated demographically. Only a tiny fraction of Americans make itemized contributions (over $200). OpenSecrets, Donor Demographics, https://www.opensecrets.org/elections-overview/donor-demographics. Academic research confirms income is “a strong predictor of whether an individual is asked to donate” and that richer donors give disproportionately more. Laurent Bouton, Julia Cagé, et al., “Small Campaign Donors,” NBER Working Paper No. 30050 (2022), https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w30050/w30050.pdf
Caden Pearson, “ActBlue Donor Fraud Allegations Mount,” The Epoch Times, Oct. 4, 2023 (not independently verified by this report; article behind subscription paywall). The O’Keefe Media Group’s foundational reporting on the same pattern ran March 28, 2023, documenting senior citizens in Maryland and elsewhere whose names appeared in FEC records as having donated $170,000–$230,000+ via ActBlue through 12,000–31,000 individual contributions, with donors on-camera denying the donations when approached. O’Keefe Media Group, “Potential Massive ActBlue Scheme” (March 28, 2023), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnKCPK_OACc . Sen. Marco Rubio cited this reporting in an April 12, 2023 letter to the FEC demanding investigation, describing “individuals, including senior citizens, [who] have purportedly donated to ActBlue thousands of times a year” and had “no idea that their names and addresses were being used.” Fox News (Apr. 12, 2023), https://www.foxnews.com/politics/rubio-demands-probe-actblue-reports-fraudulent-fundraising-off-seniors.
Dominic Rapini’s FEC-based analysis of 18 Connecticut donors (all over age 70) identified specific individuals including: Clifford Slayman, an 88-year-old retired Yale professor — 7,539 contributions totaling $213,163 in his name — who signed an affidavit stating “I believe this does not reflect my donation frequency or dollars I have donated”; and Barbara Schmerzler, a retired real estate broker in her 80s — 2,549 contributions totaling $41,000 — who likewise signed an affidavit disputing the record. A 91-year-old woman (2,591 contributions, $41,000) and a 75-year-old woman (4,270 contributions, $32,323) also signed affidavits denying the donations. Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell, “Where Does the Money Come From? Elderly Democrats Say Donations Made in Their Names Aren’t Genuine,” The Daily Signal (Jan. 8, 2025), https://www.dailysignal.com/2025/01/08/elderly-democrats-say-thousands-donations-actblue-were-made-fraudulently-their-names/ ; Inside Investigator (June 2, 2025), https://insideinvestigator.org/acting-blue-evidence-of-fraudulent-political-donations-targeting-retirees/