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’

«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.

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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.

This is part one of a series examining the challenges confronting the NATO alliance.

As President Donald Trump ramps up pressure on NATO allies to increase defense spending — and orders the withdrawal of 5,000 U.S. troops from Germany over the next six to 12 months — a deeper issue is coming into focus: even as allied budgets rise, NATO still depends heavily on American military power to function.

NATO’s imbalance is not theoretical — and it is not new, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg told Fox News Digital, «I told the president… maybe you ought to talk about a tiered relationship with NATO,» Kellogg described conversations with Donald Trump in his first term about the alliance’s future. «…we need to develop a new, for lack of a better term, a new NATO a new defensive alignment with Europe.»

Kellogg, who served as a senior national security official during Trump’s first term, said the alliance has expanded politically but not militarily — creating what he sees as a growing gap between commitments and real capability.

NATO CHIEF SIGNALS ALLIES MAY ACT ON HORMUZ, WARNS OF ‘UNHEALTHY CODEPENDENCE’ ON US

«You started with 12, and you went to 32, and in the process, I think you diluted the impact,» he argued, calling today’s NATO «a very bloated architecture.»

«They haven’t put the money into defense. Their defense industry and defense forces have atrophied. When you look at the Brits right now, they could barely deploy forces: they have two aircraft carriers, both under maintenance. Their brigades are like one out of six that work. And you just look at the capability, it’s just not there. So I think we need to realize that and say, well, we need something different,» Kellogg, who is the co-chair of the Center for American Security at the America First Foreign Policy Institute, told Fox News Digital.

But not everyone agrees the alliance is losing relevance.

«It has never been more relevant,» said John R. Deni, a research professor at the U.S. Army War College, who says NATO remains central to U.S. national security.

«The reason for that is twofold,» he said. «One, it’s our comparative advantage versus the Chinese and the Russians… they don’t have anything like this.»

«And the second reason… NATO underwrites the security and stability of our most important trade and investment relationship,» he added, referring to economic ties between North America and Europe.

NATO ALLIES CLASH AFTER RUSSIAN JETS BREACH AIRSPACE, TESTING ALLIANCE RESOLVE

NATO Chiefs of Defense hold a hybrid meeting in Brussels on Aug. 20, 2025, with screens displaying allied leaders joining remotely to discuss Ukraine. (Fox News)

Dependence: Design or Weakness?

By around 2010, the United States accounted for roughly 65% to 70% of NATO defense spending, according to analysis provided by Barak Seener from the Henry Jackson Society, a London-based think tank.

«They’ve always been dependent on the U.S.,» Kellogg said of the European allies.

«The allies overall rely upon one another for deterrence and defense by design,» Deni said, explaining that alliances exist to «pool their resources» and «aggregate their individual strengths.»

Deni pointed to ground forces as a clear example of what the U.S. gains from the alliance, noting that «there are far more allied mechanized infantry forces on the ground than there are Americans.»

Still, he acknowledged that reliance has at times gone too far.

«In the past… it was fair to say that the European allies were overly reliant upon the Americans for conventional defense,» he said, pointing to the 2000s.

That, he said, was partly driven by U.S. priorities — as Washington pushed European allies to focus on wars in Afghanistan and Iraq rather than territorial defense.

A Polish Army soldier sits in a tank as a NATO flag flies behind during the NATO Noble Jump VJTF exercises on June 18, 2015, in Zagan, Poland. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Seener describes NATO as «formally collective, but functionally asymmetric,» with the U.S. providing a disproportionate share of «high-end capabilities.»

That asymmetry is most visible in nuclear deterrence.

Seener said the U.S. provides the overwhelming majority of NATO’s nuclear arsenal — including intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched systems and strategic bombers — meaning deterrence ultimately relies on the assumption of U.S. retaliation.

A NATO official told Fox News Digital that, «The U.S. nuclear deterrent cannot be replaced, but it is clear that Europe needs to step up. There’s no question. There needs to be a better balance when it comes to our defense and security. Both because we see the vital role the U.S. plays around the world and the resources that it demands, and also because it is only fair.»

«The good news,» the official added, «is that the Allies are doing exactly that. They are stepping up, working together — and with the U.S. — to ensure we collectively have what we need to deter and defend one billion people living across the Euro-Atlantic area.»

NATO LAUNCHES ARCTIC SECURITY PUSH AS TRUMP EYES GREENLAND TAKEOVER

Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopters of the U.S. Army 12th Combat Aviation Brigade fly over a Lithuanian Vilkas infantry fighting vehicle during the Allied Spirit 25 military exercise near Hohenfels, Germany, on March 12, 2025.

The Systems NATO Cannot Replace

Beyond nuclear weapons, the dependence runs through the alliance’s operational backbone.

Seener pointed to U.S.-provided intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance — as well as logistics and command systems — as essential to NATO operations.

«Without U.S. intelligence and surveillance, NATO loses situational awareness and early warning capabilities,» Seener said, adding, «So that means that Russia, for example, can attack Europe. And theoretically, if there’s no NATO and the U.S. is not involved, Europe would not be aware, or it would take it too long to be able to defend itself.»

Kellogg also says that much of Europe’s military capability falls short of top-tier systems.

«For the most part, their equipment, if you had to grade it A, B, C, D, E, F, they’re kind of like B players or C players,» he said. «It’s not the first line of work.»

He pointed to air and missile defense as a key gap, noting that while European countries rely on U.S.-made systems such as Patriot and THAAD, «they don’t have a system that’s comparable.»

Kellogg attributed that to years of underinvestment, saying European defense industries «have atrophied,» adding that the United States is also now «relearning that as well.»

TRUMP AFFIRMS US ‘WILL ALWAYS BE THERE FOR NATO,’ WHILE EXPRESSING DOUBTS ABOUT ALLIANCE

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg looks on as President Donald Trump and Poland’s President Andrzej Duda talk during a working lunch at the NATO leaders summit in Watford, Britain, on Dec. 4, 2019. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

Deni said the picture today is more mixed.

«Alliance defense spending has been up… and has spiked far more after 2022,» he said, pointing to Russia’s invasion of Crimea in 2014 as a turning point.

But he cautioned that capability gains take time, noting that many improvements are still years away from full deployment.

Deni pointed to recent European purchases of U.S. systems as evidence of growing capability, noting that countries including Poland, Romania, Norway and Denmark are acquiring the F-35 fighter jet from the U.S.

«You can’t build an F-35 overnight,» he said, adding that many of these improvements will take years to fully materialize.

A NATO official told Fox News Digital the alliance «needs to move further and faster» to meet growing threats, pointing to new capability targets agreed by defense ministers in June 2025.

Keith Kellogg speaks during the Warsaw Security Forum 2025 on Sept. 30, 2025, in Warsaw, Poland. (Marek Antoni Iwanczuk/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The official said priorities include air and missile defense, long-range weapons, logistics and large land forces, noting that while details remain classified, plans call for a fivefold increase in air and missile defense, «thousands more» armored vehicles and tanks, and «millions more» artillery shells. NATO also aims to double key enabling capabilities such as logistics, transportation and medical support.

The official added that allies are increasing investments in warships, aircraft, drones, long-range missiles, as well as space and cyber capabilities, while boosting readiness and modernizing command and control.

«These targets are now included in national plans,» the official said, adding that allies must demonstrate how they will meet them through sustained defense spending and capability development.

The NATO official also noted that European allies lead multinational forces across Central and Eastern Europe, while the U.S. and Canada serve as framework nations in Poland and Latvia, alongside ongoing air policing missions and NATO’s KFOR operation in Kosovo.

One of three Swedish Air Force JAS 39 Gripen fighter aircraft takes off from the Blekinge Wing F17, based in Kallinge southern Sweden for a base in Sardinia to join the Nato-led operation in Libya, on Saturday, April 2, 2011. As Sweden joins NATO, it bids a final farewell to more than two centuries of neutrality. (AP Photo/Scanpix/Patric Soderstrom, File)

What happens if the U.S. is stretched?

Kellogg’s warning is direct: NATO’s deterrence depends on U.S. presence.

«The one you always have to worry about… is Russia,» Kellogg, who was Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia in 2025, said.

If U.S. forces are tied down elsewhere, NATO could face serious strain — particularly in areas like intelligence and logistics.

For Kellogg, the danger is delay. «We won’t know until it happens,» he said. «And then you won’t be able to respond to it.»

Deni, however, said the alliance remains a strategic asset — not a liability.

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A NATO military force stands guard outside the World Forum in The Hague ahead of the two-day NATO summit on June 22, 2025. (Remko de Waal/ANP/AFP)

The question, he suggests, is not whether NATO still works. It is whether allies can adapt fast enough to keep it working.

Las fuerzas filipinas y estadounidenses exhibieron el sábado el sistema de misiles antibuque NMESIS en la provincia de Batanes, cerca de Taiwán, durante los ejercicios militares anuales, mientras las tensiones se intensifican en torno a la isla autónoma que China considera su propio territorio.

La provincia más septentrional de Filipinas, con unos 20.000 habitantes, se encuentra a unos 160 kilómetros al sur de Taiwán, a lo largo del estrecho de Luzón, un corredor estratégico en la primera línea de la competencia entre las grandes potencias, Estados Unidos y China, por el dominio en la región de Asia-Pacífico.

“Entrenar aquí en Batanes nos permite operar en un entorno diferente al que normalmente nos está permitido”, dijo el sargento mayor estadounidense Darren Gibbs.

“Esto nos brinda oportunidades únicas para utilizar el sistema y entrenar dentro de nuestras capacidades, y nos ofrece experiencias que normalmente no se nos ofrecen en nuestra formación diaria”.

Gibbs afirmó que el NMESIS está diseñado para operar de forma remota y que “el propósito de este sistema es que sea totalmente autónomo, para que no necesitemos un conductor o pasajero dentro del vehículo”.

“Le diremos adónde ir y luego programaremos lo que tiene que hacer”, dijo.

El NMESIS, un sistema de misiles antibuque costero de gran movilidad diseñado para atacar buques de superficie desde posiciones terrestres a distancias de unos 185 km (115 millas), fue transportado a Batanes en un avión de transporte estadounidense C-130 y posicionado en la capital, Basco, que cuenta con una de las dos pequeñas pistas de aterrizaje de la provincia insular.

Francisco Lorenzo, director de los ejercicios militares filipinos, declaró a Reuters que el despliegue de armamento estadounidense, como el NMESIS, en Batanes forma parte de los esfuerzos por probar su viabilidad operativa en zonas remotas. El NMESIS también se desplegó en Batanes durante las maniobras militares del año pasado.

“Es parte del entrenamiento para probar la viabilidad o ensayar su despliegue allí cuando sea necesario”, dijo Lorenzo. Uno de los objetivos del Balikatan, como se denominan los ejercicios anuales conjuntos de las fuerzas estadounidenses y filipinas, es practicar la “defensa de nuestro territorio con nuestros aliados”, añadió.

El NMESIS no se utilizaría en operaciones de ejercicios reales y fue llevado a Batanes únicamente para ensayos de despliegue y apoyo a la simulación durante los juegos de guerra.

Afirmó que el sistema sería retirado de Batanes una vez finalizados los ejercicios. Estados Unidos también desplegó su sistema de misiles Typhon en Filipinas en 2024 para su uso en ejercicios conjuntos.

Pekín critica habitualmente el despliegue de armas estadounidenses en Filipinas, alegando que aumenta la tensión regional.

El analista de seguridad Chester Cabalza, fundador y presidente del centro de estudios International Development and Security Cooperation, con sede en Manila, declaró a Reuters que “el NMESIS puede encender una mecha para Pekín y generar una disuasión asimétrica para Manila y Taipéi en el canal de Bashi, a lo largo del estrecho de Luzón”.

Según Cabalza, el sistema puede ser transportado por aire y desplegado en cualquier costa del archipiélago filipino en cuestión de horas, y es probable que Pekín vea su ubicación en Batanes como parte del “cerco liderado por Estados Unidos” a China.

Las fuerzas filipinas y estadounidenses también llevaron a cabo ejercicios de ataque marítimo en Itbayat, un municipio de Batanes situado a unos 155 km de Taiwán y en el extremo norte del país.

Más de 17.000 soldados participan en las maniobras militares de este año, incluidos unos 10.000 de Estados Unidos, a pesar de que Washington sigue muy involucrado en Oriente Medio.

Recientemente, China intensificó sus actividades en el Mar de China Meridional y el Estrecho de Taiwán, aumentando su presencia naval alrededor de Taiwán y enviando un portaaviones a través del estrecho. Además, este mes instaló una barrera en la desembocadura del arrecife de Scarborough, según imágenes satelitales revisadas por Reuters.

El presidente filipino, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., ha declarado que los filipinos que trabajan y viven en Taiwán tendrían que ser evacuados en caso de guerra por la isla autogobernada, y que eso “arrastraría a Filipinas a la fuerza al conflicto”.

El secretario de Defensa filipino, Gilberto Teodoro, declaró en una entrevista con Reuters el 28 de abril que Manila cuenta con un plan de contingencia para evacuar a los filipinos en Taiwán si estalla un conflicto, pero no ofreció más detalles.

(con información de Reuters)