EXCLUSIVE — Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) is demanding the FBI and Treasury Department investigate ActBlue over the top Democratic software previously allowing an anti-Israel group accused of having Palestinian terror ties to fundraise on its platform.
ActBlue informed the Washington Examiner in September that, due to violating its policies, the charity platform booted off the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, or PACBI, a founding member of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions National Committee that received money through ActBlue since at least 2021. Now, Issa is requesting significant information from both Treasury’s Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Undersecretary Brian E. Nelson and FBI Director Christopher Wray while also asking the top officials to review whether ActBlue or PACBI violated federal law, according to a Thursday letter.
“The undeniable and continued collaboration between these two entities raises serious concerns of the enabling of terror-related activity and may also constitute money laundering crimes as well as violations of international law,” Issa, who sits on the House Judiciary and Foreign Affairs Committees, wrote to Nelson and Wray, noting that “no part” of reporting from the Washington Examiner has been “contradicted or denied by ActBlue.”
The congressman’s letter included a citation to Zachor Legal Institute, a pro-Israel watchdog that has said ActBlue may have provided material support to terrorism by working with PACBI. The West Bank-based group is the “face” of the BDS National Committee, which has included Palestinian National and Islamic Forces, a coalition represented by U.S.-designated terror groups, such as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Hamas, according to the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, a think tank.
The Washington Examiner reported that PACBI is a fiscally sponsored project of Alliance for Global Justice, an Arizona charity tied to Palestinian terrorism that is fundraising through PayPal after the payment processors Stripe and Salsa Labs dropped it. Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) recently raised concerns over PayPal’s ties to AFGJ, while House GOP investigators are also eyeing the arrangement, according to sources familiar.
ActBlue has not said which specific policies PACBI violated before it booted the group off its platform. That said, ActBlue does not work with groups “at odds” with “social equality, women’s rights, LGBTQIA2S+ rights, racial justice, diversity, freedom of speech, disability rights, and respect for scientific inquiry, discovery, and data,” its policies indicate.
Groups operating overseas using ActBlue also must have their own tax identification number and not be fiscally sponsored, which PACBI is. Moreover, ActBlue’s policies say those who use its software should be “headquartered (and have a mailing address) within the United States or its territories” and “cannot fundraise directly for foreign elections, government, military, or on behalf of international political parties or organizations.”
In his letter, Issa said the BDS movement “is fundamentally an antisemitic cause,” adding, “The persistent dalliance between progressive activists and the BDS movement calls into question the extent to which the activities of coalition building of ActBlue are in reality a stand-in for a wider commitment to aiding and abetting attacks on Israel and targeting the Jewish people worldwide.”
The congressman asked Nelson and Wray whether the FBI or Treasury Department are aware of the “long-standing association between ActBlue Charities and PACBI” and if it has reviewed the relationship to see “whether funds are flowing from Americans to terrorist organizations.” Issa also requested to know whether the FBI is aware of “any other material support” PACBI or the BDS National Committee has provided to terror groups.
The Treasury Department did not reply to a request for comment, while the FBI declined to comment.
Issa also asked Nelson and Wray if they are aware which foreign banks have handled funds raised by PACBI through ActBlue and if the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, a Treasury bureau that analyzes financial transactions to thwart terror and money laundering, “received any suspicious activity reports” in connection to the ActBlue and PACBI partnership.
“Answers to these questions are critical to determine whether ActBlue Charities has raised funds for international terrorism through its fundraising collaboration with PACBI,” Issa wrote in the letter. “With this in mind, we respectfully request that if the Treasury Department and FBI have not yet reviewed either the fundraising collaboration itself or what the funds ultimately supported, that you would do so to determine whether ActBlue Charities or PACBI violated relevant statutes.”
ActBlue and PACBI did not return requests for comment.