Democratic software ActBlue allows Palestinian terrorism-tied group to fundraise – Washington Examiner
The summary highlights a controversy involving ActBlue, a top Democratic fundraising platform, which is reported to be allowing a group with potential links to terrorism to use its services. According to a Washington Examiner review, Colorado Freedom Fund, a subsidiary under the charitable section of ActBlue, is accepting donations and is associated with the Alliance for Global Justice (AFGJ) in Arizona. The AFGJ has been linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a U.S.-designated terrorist group. Revelations come despite previous removals of related accounts suggesting that loopholes are potentially being exploited to facilitate fundraising in the United States. Rep. Darrell Issa has called for investigations to confirm if laws have been violated by allowing such fundraising activities, highlighting concerns over the intertwining of terror funding and legitimate financial platforms.
Top Democratic fundraising software ActBlue allows a subsidiary of a Palestinian terrorism-linked charity on its platform, according to a Washington Examiner review.
A little-known group called Colorado Freedom Fund has an active account through ActBlue’s charitable arm and is accepting donations via credit cards, PayPal, and Google Pay, a fundraising portal shows. But Colorado Freedom Fund isn’t a stand-alone entity: It is funded and managed by Alliance for Global Justice, an organization in Arizona that payment processors recently removed from their systems over a series of Washington Examiner reports on its ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a U.S.-designated terrorist faction.
ActBlue’s decision to allow the AFGJ-housed project on its platform illustrates how nonprofit organizations with connections to terrorism appear to take advantage of loopholes to fundraise in the United States. Last year, ActBlue removed an account for the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, which the Washington Examiner reported is a project of AFGJ. The charity in Tucson, Arizona, houses an Israeli-designated terrorist group called Samidoun that shares staffers with the PFLP — a fact that previously prompted payment processors, including PayPal, to jump ship from AFGJ.
“We need to know if the tentacles of terror funding are wrapped around the most monied Democrat financing entity and exploiting legitimate payment services that Americans use every day,” said Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), who, in 2023, asked the FBI and the Treasury Department to investigate whether ActBlue violated federal law in allowing the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel to fundraise.
News of the fundraising operation comes days after a Washington Examiner report revealed AFGJ appears to have unlawfully failed to disclose lobbying on the state and federal level. That is because its project, Colorado Freedom Fund, lobbies in connection to various bills in the Centennial State, financial disclosures show.
Marc Greendorfer, an attorney leading Zachor Legal Institute, a think tank that has pressed for federal investigations into AFGJ, said it is surprising that ActBlue and the payment processors have not done basic due diligence to restrict a terrorism-linked group from fundraising.
“Alliance for Global Justice has a track record of funding terror,” Greendorfer said, noting that companies have a duty to their investors to “do a better job of vetting those who use its platforms, especially when the user has a long, documented history of supporting terror.”
ActBlue did not reply to a request for comment. PayPal spokesman Will Burns declined to comment.
Google Play spokeswoman Liz Schulten asked if the Washington Examiner was open to accepting information on background but did not provide any, and she declined to say whether Google will take any action against the AFGJ-housed group.
“Merchants using the Google Pay API must follow the Google Pay API Terms of Services, including the acceptable use policy,” Schulten said. “When we discover violations, we take action against them, which may include removing Google Pay as a payment option.”
A Discover spokesperson told the Washington Examiner that the company is “continuing to investigate” the fundraiser but did not comment beyond that.
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Visa, Mastercard, and American Express did not reply to requests for comment.
“AFGJ fiscally sponsors and repeatedly defends Samidoun, a terror front that acts on behalf of Hamas and other terror organizations,” Greendorfer said. “As a fiscal sponsor, AFGJ benefits from any funds it raises for its terror clients.”
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