Did money-laundering help Democrats win Virginia in 2024

ActBlue is part of a series of investigative articles.

Restoration News identified more than $738,000 worth of campaign contributions that will benefit Virginia Democrats by 2024, including Sen. Tim Kaine and Kamala Kaine. The money was made from 18 “smurfs” who are potential victims. They were all linked to ActBlue’s progressive fundraising group.

These new revelations are part of an ongoing inquiry that was launched by Virginia Attorney-General Jason Miyares in October, along with a alliance consisting of attorneys generals over ActBlue’s purported money-laundering scheme.

This pattern also matches evidence Restoration News uncovered in Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. We identified “smurfs” in each state. These are individuals who were reported by the FEC as having contributed tens of thousands or even hundreds thousands of dollars in multiple contributions between 2023 and 2024. The average age of these individuals is 60+ but some are even in their 90s.

Smurfing is the practice of repackaging large amounts of money into smaller transactions, which are less likely than larger ones to be scrutinized by law enforcement. One smurf, for example, contributed over $15,000 to Democrats via ActBlue, but the largest contribution was only $250.

Restoration News has identified 18 possible smurfs that contributed $737,614 through ActBlue to Virginia Democrats in 2023-24. Although not all recipients have been identified yet, Kaine received 1,162 contributions totaling $29,754 from the 18 smurfs while Harris received 675 totaling $38,473.

The largest donation per person was typically only a few hundreds dollars, and in some cases it was less than $100. Only five suspected smurfs contributed $1,000 or more each.

We’ve found the most obvious example of smurfing to be a Harris-Kaine Donor in Cincinnati, Ohio. This donor contributed $195.559 to ActBlue, but his largest contribution was only $2,800.

Is it Part of a broader strategy?

ActBlue’s strategy to avoid financial scrutiny may be reflected in the smurfing phenomena.

ActBlue was created in 2009 as a way to help Democrat candidates and groups. It is a network that allows money to be funneled to political action committees, 501(c),(3) charities and 501(4) advocacy groups.

This structure could help divide up large contributions from well known donors such as billionaire leftist George Soros in close races. This may have been less important in Virginia where Harris beat Trump by just 5 points, and Kaine was re-elected by 10 points.

Smurfing donations may have been the difference between razor-thin margins in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. David McCormick won the Pennsylvania Republican race by less than 1%. McCormick defeated Bob Casey, a long-time Democratic Senator. In Wisconsin, Democratic incumbent Sen. Tammy Baldwin barely escaped the vigorous challenge of Republican businessman Eric Hovde. She won by only 1 percent.

Heat Up

ActBlue was served a summons by Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge Brad Schimel last week for a lawsuit that involved a Republican who claimed his email identity had been stolen to donate to liberal causes which he did not support.

The judge has allowed attorneys from America First Policy Institute, who represent the America First Policy Institute, to conduct discovery in order to determine if the man was a victim of fraud.

In Virginia, Attorney-General Jason Miyares has been leading the charge. He sent a Letter to ActBlue last August outlining his concerns about ActBlue being used as a vehicle for donations of hundreds of thousands that “appear suspicious and are superficially implausible.” These allegations match what Restoration News uncovered.

After petitioning to the Federal Election Commission, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton opened up new avenues for investigation.

Bryan Steil, the Republican Chairman of the Committee on House Administration in Wisconsin, sponsored the Shield Act at the federal level to impose more stringent requirements on campaign contributions made by credit or debit card. Steil has expressed concerns about allegations that ActBlue didn’t require card verification value security measures for online contributions.

Steil has also worked in partnership with Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson (R), to investigate whether foreign actors may have used ActBlue as a way to funnel money into Democratic campaigns.

The federal law requires that banks and financial institutions file SARS when they detect potential money laundering. Will any of those hostile foreign countries appear? Only time will tell.