INTERNACIONAL
ActBlue sues Texas AG Ken Paxton, alleging political retaliation over Democrats’ fundraising
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue is suing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, accusing the Republican of using his office for «retaliation» to punish the group for its political work and asking a federal judge to block his investigations and litigation against the organization.
«ActBlue is trying to take me down,» Paxton, who is running for Senate in Texas, wrote on X. «I sued the fundraising platform for deceiving Americans by lying about its donation processes that allow fraudulent and foreign donations.
«I will hold those who break the law accountable.»
The ActBlue lawsuit, filed Friday in federal court in Boston, seeks to counter the case Paxton brought last month in Texas state court accusing ActBlue of misleading Congress and the public about its donation practices. ActBlue said Paxton’s actions are part of an unlawful retaliation campaign targeting the nation’s leading small-dollar Democratic fundraising platform.
TEXAS AG PAXTON SUES DEM FUNDRAISING PLATFORM ACTBLUE, ALLEGING ‘FRAUDULENT AND FOREIGN DONATIONS’
An election countdown calendar hangs at the ActBlue fundraising office in Somerville, Mass. (Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
«Ken Paxton has spent more than two years using the power of his office to investigate, harass, and sue ActBlue,» Lawrence Oliver, ActBlue’s chief legal officer, said in a statement.
«The timing of Paxton fighting for his political life in his run for U.S. Senate and his use of the Attorney General’s office to attack ActBlue, should not be lost on anyone. He is wasting taxpayer dollars to benefit his political ambitions.
«That is not law enforcement. It is retaliation against constitutionally protected speech and association, and it is exactly what the First Amendment forbids.»
DEM FUNDRAISING GIANT ACTBLUE ROCKED BY ALLEGATIONS IT MISLED CONGRESS ABOUT FOREIGN DONATIONS
ActBlue alleges Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, is investigating its Democrat fundraising platform to target his potential November election opponent James Talarico. (Julio Cortez/AP Photo)
ActBlue also argues selective prosecution, noting Paxton has never investigated WinRed — the Republican fundraising counterpart to ActBlue — alleging in the lawsuit that «Paxton has a history of targeting Democratic-aligned entities.»
«During his tenure as Texas Attorney General, Paxton has signaled an emphasis on enforcement against entities enabling voting and political speech that he perceives as aligned with the Democratic Party,» the lawsuit reads. «He has consistently sought to suppress speech with which he disagrees and hobble his political opponents by abusing the powers of his Office.»
ActBlue cited a New York Times report that Talarico «had posted strong fundraising numbers for the first quarter of 2026,» in potentially being the nexus for Paxton’s opening his investigation.
‘OPEN BORDERS TRUMP-HATING RADICAL’: GOP UNLEASHES EARLY BLITZ ON TEXAS DEMOCRAT TALARICO
The timing of his investigation shows a political motive, ActBlue’s lawsuit argues. The group says Paxton’s investigators began conducting undercover transactions on ActBlue’s platform Feb. 18, one day after Talarico announced he had raised $2.5 million in 24 hours, including more than $2.2 million through ActBlue.
The lawsuit said Paxton filed his Texas case five days after national reporting described Talarico as a major fundraising threat who had raised more than $36 million through the platform.
The lawsuit marks an escalation in a broader Republican-backed campaign targeting ActBlue and other online fundraising platforms. President Donald Trump last year directed his Department of Justice to investigate the groups, and Paxton has pursued ActBlue through a series of inquiries dating back to December 2023.
‘TIPPING THE SCALES’: HOUSE GOP LEADERS RIP ACTBLUE AFTER DEM FUNDRAISING GIANT HIT WITH SUBPOENA
The issue comes as the Democratic National Committee reportedly carried more than $17.5 million in debt this winter, according to the FEC.
The House Administration, Judiciary and Oversight committees have been investigating ActBlue for more than a year and issued a 2025 report titled «Fraud on ActBlue.»
«ActBlue has engaged in good faith at every turn,» the group wrote in a statement after sending a letter to the committees last week before filing the Paxton lawsuit.
TOP HOUSE COMMITTEES ACCUSE DEM FUNDRAISING GIANT OF FACILITATING ‘BAD ACTORS’ IN BOMBSHELL DOJ LETTER
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, Committee on House Administration Chairman Bryan Steil and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan are leading investigations into ActBlue. (AP)
«We are asking the Committees to do the same: engage with us directly before sending accusatory public correspondence, and answer unresolved questions about the relationship between their oversight work and a DOJ investigation ordered by a President who has made no secret of his hostility towards ActBlue.
«We see what this is,» the statement added. «And we’re going to keep showing up, keep correcting the record — because that’s what transparency actually looks like. Not as a talking point. As a practice.»
Paxton’s Texas lawsuit, filed April 20, seeks financial penalties and asks a state court to stop ActBlue from allowing donations through gift cards and prepaid debit cards. Paxton alleged those payment methods could obscure a donor’s identity and enable illegal contributions, including from foreign nationals. His suit also claimed ActBlue continued to process gift card donations after saying in 2024 that it would stop doing so.
DEMOCRAT PLATFORM ACTBLUE SUBPOENAED BY HOUSE COMMITTEE AMID CONCERNS FOREIGN DONORS EXPLOITED SECURITY FLAWS
ActBlue denied the allegations.
«This is a thinly veiled attempt to distract from Ken Paxton’s numerous legal and ethical issues ahead of next month’s runoff,» ActBlue spokeswoman De’Andra Roberts-LaBoo told Fox News in an April 20 statement via email. «If he and his Republican allies actually cared about donor fraud, they would work to strengthen security standards across the board, including within their own operations, rather than targeting ActBlue.
«Our platform has done more than any other, regardless of party, to prevent improper donations and protect donors. Full stop.»
SCOOP: DEM FUNDRAISING GIANT ACTBLUE HIT WITH SUBPOENA BY TOP HOUSE COMMITTEES
Investigators from Paxton’s office attempted three times to use an American Express gift card on ActBlue’s platform, and all three attempts were rejected by the platform’s automated fraud-prevention tools, according to the complaint.
ActBlue said Paxton nevertheless filed a lawsuit accusing the group of having «secretly resumed» accepting gift cards and failed to disclose the failed test transactions to the Texas court, calling the allegations «false and inflammatory.»
«Paxton’s decision to use his government office to target ActBlue with legal sanctions as retribution for its protected speech and political association is an affront to the Constitution and must not be tolerated,» ActBlue’s lawyers wrote in the federal lawsuit.
Since its founding in 2004, ActBlue said it has helped raise $19 billion for Democratic campaigns and progressive organizations, including more than $568 million in the first quarter of 2026, acting as a conduit for individual donors.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
The lawsuit asks a federal judge to declare Paxton’s investigation and Texas civil case unconstitutional violations of ActBlue’s First and 14th Amendment rights and to bar him from continuing to pursue them.
Reuters contributed to this report.
first amendment elections, republicans, texas, investigations, fund raising
INTERNACIONAL
Trump shares news of ‘crytal clear’ Reflecting Pool, calls for vandalism suspect’s arrest
Secretary Burgum condemns vandalism targeting National Mall amid new threats
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum reacts to a disturbing pattern of vandalism targeting the National Mall, including the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, which suffered significant damage. Burgum details the restoration efforts, the deployment of security and the arrest of seven individuals involved. He stresses that such acts are an attack on the country and will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
President Donald Trump and his Interior Department are declaring an America 250 victory over algae in the Lincoln Reflecting Pool.
Trump shared photos on Truth Social on Sunday showing the pool and the reflection of the Washington Monument appearing clear and blue, and made a call out with a «Wanted» poster for vandals.
«The U.S. Park Police is seeking the public’s assistance in identifying the individual in the notice below in connection with a Destruction of Government Property investigation related to the Reflecting Pool,» Trump wrote Sunday on Truth Social.
Trump also shared an Interior Department statement crediting «advanced nanobubbler technology» and National Park Service cleanup work.
FORMER US OLYMPIAN DAVID HEARN INDICTED IN ALLEGED REFLECTING POOL VANDALISM
President Donald Trump is touting the algae cleanup and the prosecution of vandals from the Lincoln Reflecting pool with the water proving clear and refective in this July 3 photo. (Finn Gomez/Getty Images)
«The advanced nanobubbler technology very effectively killed the algae that has plagued every Lincoln Reflecting Pool reopening — most infamously Obama’s reopening — since 1922,» Dei Gratia Minerals founder Greg Wischer, Interior’s deputy assistant secretary for land and minerals management, wrote in a letter shared with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Trump.
«The Reflecting Pool water is crystal clear, and our National Park Service team is now vacuuming up the dead algae resting on the bottom of some parts of the Reflecting Pool — just like the destroyed Iranian Navy resting on the bottom of the Persian Gulf.»
The photos shared by Trump show the Reflecting Pool stretching toward the Washington Monument under blue skies. One image appears to show the pool from the Lincoln Memorial end, while a second closer view shows the Washington Monument reflected in the water.
Trump also shared a U.S. Interior Press social media post hailing the technological success, quoting that Wischer memo.
YOSEMITE, GRAND CANYON LEAD NOTABLE LIST OF NATIONAL PARK CAMPGROUNDS FOR AMERICA’S 250TH
WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 03: Pete Folch carries an American flag during a morning run past the Reflecting Pool as the city prepares for July 4th festivities on July 03, 2026, in Washington, DC. A fireworks show will begin around 10:30 p.m on July 4th as the city deals with extreme heat warnings. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) (Getty Images)
«The vacuuming is the final maintenance step after refilling the pool, and it will be complete in a few days,» his memo continued. «Already, the section of the Reflecting Pool closest to the Lincoln Memorial has been vacuumed up, and the beautiful American Flag Blue coating on the bottom of the pool can be seen clearly.»
Trump’s Interior Department has praised the technology for overcoming past challenges on keeping the pool clear, including dunking on former President Barack Obama.
«Previous administrations — most notably under Obama — failed to maintain the Reflecting Pool, and after refilling the pool, the water would quickly become murky and thick with massive clumps of algae floating on the surface,» the memo concluded.
INTERNAL EMAILS EXPOSE HOW JULY 4TH BASH IS BEING DERAILED BY DEM-RUN COUNTY: ‘OFFENSIVE’
Police said the incident happened on Friday at around 3:36 p.m. at the Reflecting Pool on the grounds of the Lincoln Memorial in the nation’s capital. (U.S. Park Police)
«The photos below show how the nanobubbler technology and vacuuming have been incredibly effective, making the water crystal clear with the American Flag Blue coating shining brightly on the bottom of the pool.
«As our National Park Service team noted, the Reflecting Pool is now so ‘blue’ that the Fake News Media, which has been staked out at the Reflecting Pool for weeks, has fled!»
The 6.75 million-gallon pool has been targeted by Trump critics and leftist anti-Trump activists for attacks both verbally and physical, Burgum discussed with ABC’s «This Week» on Sunday.
«The Reflecting Pool has been a big success,» he said. «And we’ve got 340 million people in this country that are celebrating 250. We did have a few vandals, but all that’s going to be repairable, and that’ll all be fixed in the coming weeks as we go forward.»
People look out at the Reflecting Pool and Washington Monument from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial ahead of July 4 festivities on July 03, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Burgum now believes that the pool might not require a full draining after its «multiple gashes that add up to 350 feet,» he added.
«We don’t know if we need to drain the whole thing or not because, you know, the cutting happened on the edge, and, of course, it slopes from the edge,» according to Burgum.
«We may be able to partially drain it and do the repair. To be able to fix it, we may not have to drain the whole thing, but it could go very quickly.»
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
While the media and Trump critics are pointing to added costs of the reflecting pool refurbishment, Burgum pointed to the vandalism causing that.
«We weren’t expecting that we were going to have a small group of people that wanted to try to destroy effectively what is part of the Lincoln Memorial,» Burgum told ABC. «There’s plenty of cameras around the Lincoln statue and around the memorial, but the Reflecting Pool had gone for, you know, decades without vandalism.»
washington dc, donald trump, white house, lincoln, cabinet
INTERNACIONAL
Ola de calor en Europa: el fuego destruyó miles de hectáreas de bosque y advierten que la temporada de incendios «va a ser larga»
Los incendios en España: hay un detenido
Cientos de bomberos movilizados en Francia
Un desastre natural en Portugal
También hay focos en Grecia
Alertas por calor extremo en la región
«La temporada va a ser larga»
INTERNACIONAL
Newsom blames Trump for DOJ probe, but reports say investigation predates his administration
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s claims that President Donald Trump’s Justice Department launched a politically motivated «fishing expedition» against him are facing new scrutiny after multiple reports indicated key federal investigations predate Trump’s second administration.
The timeline has emerged as a central point in the dispute. While Newsom argues the current Justice Department is weaponizing the investigations against a political rival, multiple news organizations, citing sources familiar with the matter, have reported that at least some of the investigative activity began before Trump returned to the White House.
According to CalMatters, at least two criminal investigations involving Newsom’s orbit have been underway for about a year in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California. The outlet, citing a Justice Department source familiar with the matter, reported the investigations originated from whistleblowers and local complaints in Sacramento, while one inquiry involving former Newsom chief of staff Dana Williamson was opened during the Biden administration. CBS News, Axios, the Financial Times and The Guardian have also reported similar timelines, citing sources familiar with the investigations.
Newsom has maintained that the current Justice Department has expanded or politicized the investigations, even as the reported chronology has fueled questions over whether the inquiries themselves originated under Trump’s administration.
WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE NEWSOM-LINKED CHARITIES REPORTEDLY CAUGHT IN DOJ’S SIGHTS
President Donald Trump and Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., have feuded throughout Trump’s second term so far. (AP Newsroom)
The outlet also reported that one investigation involving former Newsom chief of staff Dana Williamson was opened during the Biden administration. Williamson pleaded guilty earlier this year to corruption charges in a case that did not implicate Newsom. CBS News, Axios, the Financial Times and The Guardian have also reported, citing sources familiar with the investigations, that at least one federal inquiry began roughly a year ago and originated in California rather than at Justice Department headquarters in Washington.
Despite that reported timeline, Newsom has maintained that the current Justice Department is weaponizing the investigations in retaliation for his criticism of Trump and his national political profile, describing the inquiry as a politically motivated «fishing expedition.» His administration has also sought records through the Freedom of Information Act in an effort to determine who ordered or directed the current investigation.
ACTING AG TODD BLANCHE SAYS NEWSOM’S DOJ CLAIMS ARE NOT ‘GROUNDED IN FACT’
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has pushed back on Newsom’s claims that the DOJ’s investigations are politically motivated. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc)
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche pushed back on that characterization this week. While declining to comment on any ongoing investigations, Blanche told reporters he was «not sure [Newsom’s] words are in any way grounded in fact,» adding that the California governor «would have to address that.» Blanche did not confirm or deny whether any investigation exists.
Newsom’s office responded by mocking Blanche on social media, posting a meme captioned, «Why you always lyin,» while the governor’s press office said, «Trump goons know that it’s not a crime to lie to a reporter.»
SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER
According to CalMatters, Newsom’s office contends federal prosecutors expanded their inquiries after failing to build a case from the Williamson investigation, broadening their scrutiny to include Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the couple’s finances and their associates.
The outlet reported investigators have examined the first partner’s tax filings, nonprofit organizations and certain behested payments, though it did not allege those payments were unlawful.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
First partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom is among those whose finances and nonprofit organizations have reportedly been scrutinized in a federal investigation, according to CalMatters. (Getty Images)
Fox News Digital previously reported, citing federal sources, that investigators have opened inquiries involving Jennifer Siebel Newsom, but that Fox News had not learned of any federal investigation directly targeting Gov. Newsom himself.
The Department of Justice, the White House and Newsom’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
politics, justice department, gavin newsom, donald trump
“Juntos de nuevo”: Antonela Rocuzzo compartió las imágenes del reencuentro de la familia con Messi en pleno Mundial
Trump shares news of ‘crytal clear’ Reflecting Pool, calls for vandalism suspect’s arrest
Qué acciones del Merval se preparan para un rally alcista: el pronóstico de reconocido broker
De las pistas al centro del Wandagate: quién es Franco Deambrosi, el piloto vinculado a la China Suárez
La figura que no llegaría a Boca Juniors en este mercado de pases
Economía a dos velocidades: el cambio estructural del modelo de Javier Milei, ventajas y riesgos
En medio de su separación, Magui Bravi contó por primera vez su traumático embarazo: «El parto fue de emergencia y…»
¿Se recupera el mercado de los autos?: qué muestran los números de las cinco marcas que más 0 km venden en el país
Construir los cimientos de la Inteligencia Artificial: los desafíos de la infraestructura del futuro
