ActBlue scrutiny fuels new GOP bills to tighten election donation rules

A spokesman for Steil confirmed to Fox News Digital that they plan to expedite consideration of these bills through the administration committee. 

"My investigation into ActBlue has demonstrated that the current campaign finance laws weren't drafted for the modern era we live in," the congressman told Fox News Digital. "The major gaps we've uncovered are being exploited by fraudsters and foreign nationals to make illegal political donations. For example, right now an individual could make a fraudulent donation online in someone else's name and avoid getting caught. That's an unacceptable vulnerability that bad actors are taking advantage of."

WinRed and ActBlue did not respond to requests for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Monday.

Republicans have long argued that making donations with gift cards allows individuals to more easily conceal their identities while making illegal contributions. ActBlue's lawyers also claimed, according to the memos viewed by the Times, that the payment processor sometimes failed to collect verification documents from donors residing in foreign countries to ensure they could legally make contributions.

Steil's Campaign Finance Transparency Act will, among other things, prohibit political donations made using gift cards, require the name on a credit or debit card to match that of a prospective campaign donor and mandates the verification of citizenship or permanent resident status for donors without an American mailing address.

Conservatives have also, in recent years, argued that foreign nationals are influencing American elections in ways beyond traditional campaign contributions.

The district judge handling the case recently wrote that "the court is tentatively of the opinion" that ActBlue will "likely to prevail on some, if not all, elements" of the first part of their legal complaint, which accuses Paxton of violating ActBlue's First Amendment rights by allegedly targeting it for engaging in constitutionally protected political activity.