#bonterra

Chris Smith at Vanity Fair (03.13.2025):

Yet even as that far-reaching drama unfolded, Johnson and his Republican colleagues have kept one eye on another issue, for which there’s a purely political financial angle. Since last December, Johnson has been cheerleading a congressional investigation into ActBlue, the largest Democratic online fundraising platform. Last year, it took in $3.8 billion, more than double the amount raised by the equivalent Republican PAC, WinRed. Two of Johnson’s lieutenants, Wisconsin Republican congressman Bryan Steil and Kentucky Republican congressman James Comer, along with New York Republican representative Nick Langworthy, have issued a subpoena seeking suspicious activity reports from the Treasury Department related to ActBlue, hunting for evidence of what they claim is possible fraud. California Republican congressman Darrell Issa, always a voice of calm and reason, has called on the Treasury Department to probe whether ActBlue has knowingly supported terrorist groups. (The organization did not respond to a request for comment.) The assault on ActBlue—just as seven of the group’s senior leaders have quit for unknown reasons—could do plenty of damage to Democrats all by itself. Yet it could also be merely the start of a broader Republican tactic: attempting to disrupt the flow of Democratic campaign money. Ted Cruz has been flirting with the same idea; in February, the Texas Republican threatened to issue his first subpoena as chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee to Bonterra, a private company that owns significant Democratic and progressive tech fundraising infrastructure. Cruz has backed off for now, saying that Bonterra has made a good-faith effort to turn over the requested documents. [...] Or perhaps keeping those resources in the pockets of donors and away from Democratic groups or candidates. Many PACs won’t file their first disclosure reports of 2025 until April 15, and electoral off-years are generally sleepier, so it’s difficult to assess whether there has already been a downturn in giving. Anecdotally, at least, there is considerable chatter about possible Democratic donor reluctance—though fear of Trump, coupled with frustration over November’s election results, may also be a convenient excuse to keep checkbooks closed.