SC AG requests SLED investigation on Democratic Party fundraising platform ‘ActBlue’

Alan Wilson
Image: ABC Columbia

(WPDE) — South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson requested Monday that the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) open a preliminary inquiry into online political fundraising platforms, including ActBlue.

“Nonprofit and political entities must be fully transparent to reassure the public about the integrity of our electoral process,” Wilson said.

While he mentions fundraising platforms as a whole, Wilson expressed specific concerns about ActBlue, a Democratic Party political action committee (PAC) and fundraising platform founded in 2004.

Wilson first sent a letter on the issue in August of 2024, claiming he had “serious concerns about potentially fraudulent activity.”

He said his office was “alerted to allegations of possible ‘smurfing,’ a money laundering tactic where large donations are disguised as multiple smaller ones, and other questionable donation practices.”

Wilson cited donors listed as “unemployed” or with modest occupations, making large donations as a cause for his suspicion.

“If true, these practices could violate South Carolina’s charitable, regulatory, criminal, and campaign finance laws, and potentially federal law as well,” Wilson’s Office explained in a press release.

The full letter can be found here.