The deadline has passed for Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to provide documents related to a probe by the GOP-led House Oversight Committee regarding potential "fraud and illicit financial activity linked" to a Democratic Political Action Committee (PAC).
Concretely, Committee Chair James Comer had given Yellen until October 4 to provide documents that could shed light on activities by ActBlue. In his request, he said that recent reports about the organization "raise concerns about the threat of fraud and evasion of campaign finance law by individuals exploiting online contribution platforms."
"ActBlue had not implemented standard procedures to guard against identity theft and fraud such as requiring a Card Verification Value (CVV) to process online transactions until it received criticism for not doing so," said the committee on an X publication where it justifies the probe.
🚨BREAKING: Chairman Comer (@RepJamesComer), Rep. Langworthy (@RepLangworthy), and several Oversight Committee Republican members today are launching an investigation into potential fraud and illicit financial activity linked to ActBlue campaign contributions.
— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) September 20, 2024
Recent reports… pic.twitter.com/PInapsrwfX
The body requested any Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) "filed or relating to transactions occurring on or after January 1, 2023, to the present, containing the term 'ActBlue,' which relate to money laundering, counterfeit credit/debit card, credit card or debit card fraud, false statements, wire transfer fraud or identity theft." It is unclear whether the Treasury Department or Yellen provided the requested information.
In another passage of the document, the body says that the PAC is being investigated in several states in relation to "contributions allegedly made via the platform fraudulently without the reported contributor's awareness." "In Virginia, reports of contribution activity facilitated through the ActBlue platform included 'some cases in which single donors made tens of thousands of separate donations worth hundreds of thousands of dollars,'" the letter adds.
The high-profile PAC was recently involved and featured a conversation between former talk show host Oprah Winfrey and Vice President Kamala Harris. The PAC's last publication on X calls users to join the event, saying that it was "excited to help power" it.
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