ActBlue sues Texas AG Ken Paxton, alleges political retaliation over probe

Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue is suing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton accused the Republican of using his office in “retaliatory” efforts to punish the group for its political work and asked a federal judge to block his investigations and lawsuits against the organization.

Paxton, who is running for Senate in Texas, wrote on X: “ActBlue is trying to take me down.” “I sued the fundraising platform for deceiving Americans by lying about its donation processes that allowed fraudulent and foreign donations.

“I will hold accountable those who break the law”

ActBlue’s lawsuit, filed Friday in federal court in Boston, aims to counter Paxton’s lawsuit in Texas state court last month, in which he accused ActBlue of misleading Congress and the public about its donation practices. ActBlue said Paxton’s actions were part of an illegal retaliatory campaign targeting the nation’s leading small-dollar Democratic fundraising platform.

TEXAS AG PAXTON FILED A LAWSUIT AGAINST DEM FUNDRAISING PLATFORM ACTBLUE ALLEGEDLY ‘FRAUD AND FOREIGN DONATIONS’

“Ken Paxton spent more than two years using the power of his office to investigate, harass and sue ActBlue,” ActBlue chief legal officer Lawrence Oliver said in a statement.

“No one should miss the timing of Paxton fighting for his political life while running for the U.S. Senate and using his Attorney General’s office to attack ActBlue. He is wasting taxpayer dollars for his political ambitions.”

“This is not law enforcement. This is retaliation against constitutionally protected speech and association, and that is exactly what the First Amendment prohibits.”

DEM FUNDRAISING GIANT ACTBLUE HAS BEEN SHOCKED BY ALLEGATIONS THAT IT MADE CONGRESS INACCURATE ABOUT FOREIGN DONATIONS

ActBlue alleges that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, is exploring the Democratic fundraising platform to target his potential opponent in the November election, James Talarico. (Julio Cortez/AP Photo)

ActBlue also defends selective prosecution, noting that Paxton never investigated WinRed, ActBlue’s Republican fundraising counterpart, and alleges in the lawsuit that “Paxton has a history of targeting entities aligned with Democrats.”

“During his tenure as Texas Attorney General, Paxton signaled an emphasis on imposing sanctions against organizations that facilitate voting and political expression that he perceived to be aligned with the Democratic Party,” the lawsuit states. The statement is included. “He has consistently sought to suppress speech with which he disagrees and to obstruct political rivals by abusing the powers of his Office.”

ActBlue cited a New York Times report stating that Talarico “posted strong fundraising numbers for the first quarter of 2026,” potentially being the point of contact for Paxton to launch his investigation.

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ActBlue’s lawsuit argues that the timing of the investigation indicates a political motive. The group says Paxton’s investigators began running secret transactions on the ActBlue platform on Feb. 18, a day after Talarico revealed he had raised $2.5 million in 24 hours, more than $2.2 million of which went through ActBlue.

Paxton filed the Texas lawsuit five days after national reports identified Talarico, who has raised more than $36 million through the platform, as a major fundraising threat, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit marks an escalation in the broader Republican-backed campaign targeting ActBlue and other online fundraising platforms. President Donald Trump last year ordered the Justice Department to investigate the groups, and Paxton pursued ActBlue through a series of investigations dating back to December 2023.

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The issue comes as the Democratic National Committee reportedly 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. The report titled “Fraud at ActBlue.”

“ActBlue has acted in good faith at every turn,” the group wrote in a statement after sending a message. letter to committees last week Before Paxton filed his lawsuit.

SUPREME HOUSE COMMITTEES ACCUSE DEM FUNDRAISING GIANT OF FACILITATING ‘BAD ACTORS’ IN BOMBSHELL DOJ LETTER

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil, and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan are leading investigations into ActBlue. (AP)

“We ask the committees to do the same: contact us directly before sending incriminating public correspondence and answer unresolved questions about the relationship between their oversight work and a Justice Department investigation ordered by a President who has made no secret of his hostility toward ActBlue.

“We see what this is,” the statement said. “And we will continue to show up, we will continue to set the record straight — because that’s what transparency actually looks like. Not as a topic of conversation. As a practice.”

Paxton’s Texas lawsuit, filed April 20, seeks financial penalties and asks the state court to stop ActBlue from allowing donations via gift cards and prepaid debit cards. Paxton claimed that these payment methods could hide the identity of the donor and enable illegal donations, including from foreign nationals. His lawsuit also alleged that ActBlue continued to process gift card donations after saying it would stop doing so in 2024.

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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 elections,” ActBlue spokeswoman De’Andra Roberts-LaBoo told Fox News via email on April 20. “If he and his Republican allies really cared about donation fraud, they would work to strengthen security standards across the board, including across their own operations, rather than targeting ActBlue.

“Our platform has done more than any other to prevent improper donations and protect donors, regardless of party. Bottom line.”

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According to the complaint, investigators at Paxton’s office attempted to use an American Express gift card on the ActBlue platform three times, and all three attempts were rejected by the platform’s automated anti-fraud tools.

ActBlue said Paxton nevertheless filed a lawsuit accusing the group of “secretly continuing” to accept gift cards and failing to disclose failed testing to a Texas court, calling the allegations “false and inflammatory.”

“Paxton’s decision to use his government office to target ActBlue with legal sanctions as punishment for its protected speech and political affiliation is an affront to the Constitution and should 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, by serving as a conduit for individual donors.

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The lawsuit asks a federal judge to declare Paxton’s investigation and Texas civil lawsuit as unconstitutional violations of ActBlue’s First and 14th Amendment rights and block Paxton from continuing to pursue them.

Reuters contributed to this report.