For some time, I’ve been saying that those opposing Trump need to take the stated goals laid out in his Executive Orders and turn that against him.
For example, Trump has ordered the entire Executive Branch to combat antisemitism. Yet Ed Martin is trying to get through confirmation to remain US Attorney for DC by blatantly lying about his knowledge of Timothy Hale-Cusanelli’s open support for Nazism. There should be a concerted campaign to use Trump’s stated opposition to using federal funds to support antisemites to target every one of the white nationalists he harbors in various agencies.
Similarly, his effort to combat anti-Christian discrimination could and should be used to combat some of his attacks on government. Among the USAID programs that DOGE destroyed, for example, were legal programs helping Christian minorities overseas. Why not use that as proof that Marco Rubio is violating Trump’s EO?
His Executive Order targeting ActBlue is perhaps the most promising such example. The EO itself, probably because Trump’s targeting of law firms and trans people are legally struggling because of the clear animus, does not name ActBlue specifically. Here’s the guts of the order.
Further, there is evidence to suggest that foreign nationals are seeking to misuse online fundraising platforms to improperly influence American elections. A recent House of Representatives investigation revealed that a platform named ActBlue had in recent years detected at least 22 “significant fraud campaigns”, nearly half of which had a foreign nexus. During a 30-day window during the 2024 campaign, the platform detected 237 donations from foreign IP addresses using prepaid cards, indicating that this activity remains a pressing concern.
These activities undermine the integrity of our electoral process. Therefore, I direct the Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, to use all lawful authority, as necessary, to investigate allegations regarding the unlawful use of online fundraising platforms to make “straw” or “dummy” contributions or foreign contributions to political candidates and committees, and to take all appropriate actions to enforce the law.
The accompanying Fact Sheet, however, makes it quite clear that he is targeting critical infrastructure of Democrats’ fundraising, ActBlue, and only that.
Recently uncovered evidence suggests that online fundraising platforms are being used to launder excessive and prohibited contributions to political candidates and committees.
Bad actors have sought to evade Federal source and amount limitations by breaking down large contributions into smaller ones, often attributing them to numerous individuals without their consent or knowledge.
These “straw donations” are frequently made through “dummy” accounts, using methods such as gift cards or prepaid credit cards to avoid detection.
ActBlue has become notorious for its lax standards that enable unverified and fraudulent donations.
A recent House of Representatives investigation found that ActBlue detected at least 22 “significant fraud campaigns” in recent years—nearly half of which had a foreign nexus.
Over a 30-day window during the 2024 election cycle, ActBlue detected 237 donations from foreign IP addresses using prepaid cards.
The investigation revealed that ActBlue trained employees to “look for reasons to accept contributions,” even in the face of suspicious activity.
Until recently, ActBlue accepted political contributions without requiring a card verification value (CVV), making it easy to contribute without identity verification.
Before addressing this issue in response to a congressional investigation, ActBlue tested whether this would hurt its fundraising.
Numerous state attorneys general have opened investigations into ActBlue over suspicious donations made through obscured identities and untraceable means.
But the notion that Donald Trump — on the same day that he rolled out a transparent scheme to get big donations via cryptocurrency by selling access to the White House — gives a shit about foreign donations is farcical.
As Molly White noted, the second largest donation in the surge that resulted was made via Binance — meaning it was probably not a US donor.
It seems to be working: as of writing, the second entry on the leaderboard is a wallet that purchased 400,000 $TRUMP shortly after the announcement for around $5.3 million.1 Another later purchaser achieved the #3 spot by purchasing over 650,000 $TRUMP for a whopping $8 million — interestingly, funded by a Binance account, suggesting that the wallet holder is not based in the US.2b
$8 million in $TRUMP purchases, funded by a Binance transfer
The fourth-place spot is also occupied by a wallet that was funded by Binance, which purchased $3 million in $TRUMP. In first place is Justin Sun, who has used the TRUMP holdings belonging to his HTX cryptocurrency exchange, notionally priced at $14.6 million, to secure an invite.
b. Binance.com is not available to US-based traders. While the company’s Binance.US arm does allow Americans on the platform, it uses different hot wallets from the one used by this purchaser.
Those Binance donors are a clear example of someone hiding their (likely foreign) identity while donating huge amounts to the President, while he uses the trappings of office both to protect their secrecy and to add value to the donations.
Trump has ordered Pam Bondi to investigate foreign political donors, period. This creates a lever — at the very least a political one, but if done right, a legal one — to hold Bondi accountable for her clear bias.
On her first day on the job, Bondi said she wasn’t going to investigate foreign influence in elections anymore, a move that was undoubtedly done to shelter Trump’s own misconduct. But now Trump has ordered her to do just that.
Pam Bondi will obediently do as she bid, even as ActBlue has cause to sue about the selective targeting of ActBlue. But that provides ample opportunity to show all the foreign money Trump is gulping down that she refuses to examine.
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https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Screenshot-2025-04-25-at-2.26.53 PM.png3941188emptywheelhttps://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Logo-Web.pngemptywheel2025-04-25 09:45:042025-04-25 09:45:04The ActBlue Targeting Is a Perfect Opportunity to Flip Trump’s EOs on His Head
26replies
thesmokies says:
Excellent strategy! And some of the EOs, like the anti-semitism and foreign influence ones, are very straightforward with plenty of public evidence available.
I would like to add another EO that could be used in this way.
Among the flurries of Executive Orders that Trump signed in January was one entitled, “Delivering emergency price relief for American families and defeating the cost-of-living crisis.” In the order he says,
“I hereby order the heads of all executive departments and agencies to deliver emergency price relief, consistent with applicable law, to the American people and increase the prosperity of the American worker. This shall include pursuing appropriate actions to: lower the cost of housing and expand housing supply; eliminate unnecessary administrative expenses and rent-seeking practices that increase healthcare costs; eliminate counterproductive requirements that raise the costs of home appliances; create employment opportunities for American workers, including drawing discouraged workers into the labor force; and eliminate harmful, coercive “climate” policies that increase the costs of food and fuel. Within 30 days of the date of this memorandum, the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy shall report to me and every 30 days thereafter, on the status of the implementation of this memorandum.”
It has now been more than 90 days since this order was signed, so I would like to know if the Assistant to the President for Economy Policy actually submitted these reports. And, if so, I would like to know what is in it. Is it FOIAable? I would think the contents of these reports could be turned against the administration for its very weak and likely counterproductive efforts to actually “deliver emergency price relief” or “defeat the cost-of-living crisis.”
John Forde says:
“Straw donation” “Dummy accounts”, just prepping by building a glossary to be used in court against the Fuhrer looks like great fun!
wetzel-rhymes-with says:
Ancillary to the topic but the FBI just arrested a sitting judge. According to Kash Patel, “We believe the judge intentionally misdirected federal agents away from the subject to be arrested in her courthouse, Edwardo Flores Ruiz, allowing the subject – an illegal alien – to evade arrest.”
Joe Orton says:
Thanks for this! I wonder if it would help if the next Dem presidential candidate comes out with a ‘promise to America’ type thing (that folks can stick on their frig) pledging what they won’t do. Top on the list is not come out with shame ‘currency’ to sell access to the president.
artem1s says:
I’m all for a political 95 Thesis but why limit it to Democrats? It’s long past time that the so called ‘progressive’ tankies demand that the GOP, Libertarian, and independent parties live up to the same standards. Also who gets to choose what’s on the list? What if it has some ridiculous litmus test item that is designed to split the vote no matter which side the candidate lands on? We have too many bad actors whose sole aim is to ‘burn it all down’ no matter who gets hurt in the process.
[Welcome back to emptywheel. SECOND REQUEST: Please choose and use a UNIQUE username with a minimum of 8 letters. We have adopted this minimum standard to support community security. Because your username is too short and far too similar to another community member’s, it will be temporarily changed to match the date/time of your first known comment until you have a new compliant username. Thanks. /~Rayne]
Capemaydave says:
I very much hope the focus on internal contradictions helps as these matters wend their way through the courts.
I suspect though that this coup won’t end without violence.
Gacyclist says:
Violence is baked into magas.
dannyboy says:
I agree, but have no inkling where the violence will occur. I expect the US Military will resist at some point.
For the Court Watchers, this question: How many years have we been waiting for the Courts to deliver the justice that is codified in our Constitution and laws?
Palli Davis Holubar says:
RE: We don’t know when, who or where Homeland Security & IMS “law” personnel will attack. We often don’t even always know who they are, no uniforms seem to be required, masks, no insignia, etc. Militia men & women? Moonlighting rogue cops? Mercenaries? Where are municipal police when people are kidnaped of our streets?
We do know they are domestic terrorists.
Gacyclist says:
Fbi arresting a judge today is very disturbing.
Amateur Lawyer At Work says:
Didn’t Hunter Biden case prove that “selective prosecution” is a wild goose chase, legally speaking? The action here would require Congressional hearings, which Republicans are likely smart enough to refuse to hold.
I don’t think the above article reaches as far as prosecution, merely investigation. And what the Hunter Biden saga showed was that it is extremely difficult for a defendant to sustain a charge of selective prosecution, not that it was necessarily a waste of time, i.e., never worked. And there are many other things MOC can do short of holding hearings to publicize the Administration’s bad faith, hypocrisy and venality.
Rugger_9 says:
Even defending against a baseless ‘investigation’ can be expensive and damaging, ask Hunter Biden and the ones Durham tried and failed to convict. That’s even before considering the collateral damage to family and associates. The investigation can plod along for as long as Bondi thinks she can keep it going to please Convict-1 / Krasnov.
The judge in WI is about to find out as well what lawlessness is. That’s even before considering various ‘mistakes’ like doxxing Abrego Garcia’s family can do. They had to flee to a safe house.
Marie Curie says:
I am not sure from this who of those opposing Trump should show that Pam Bondi refuses to examine Trump’s foreign contributions. What should they do and how should it be done? Of course, you just did it here, but are you encouraging people to talk about it, take it to the courts, or something else?
Super Nintendo Chalmers says:
There was a “tell” by Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell (is that the former conservative politician from Alaska?). He categorically denied Whiskey Pete had used a GOVERNMENT computer. There was no mention of a PERSONAL computer.
Super Nintendo Chalmers says:
Apologies. I posted on the wrong story. The above comment was supposed to go in the “Whiskey Pete’s Dirty Desktop” comment section.
Philip Munger says:
He’s a different Sean Parnell.
The Alaska Sean Parnell has disappeared into the labyrinth of former oil executives who wormed their way to the top of Alaska politics, then retired to Houston or Tulsa after making sure our oil money didn’t get to Alaskans.
Peterr says:
Or Florida. The key for many oil execs is to go somewhere with no personal income tax.
Peterr says:
I know a fair number of politicians, of various parties, as well as party officials. I’ve watched them fundraise through mailers, in-person pressing the flesh, “meet the candidate” breakfasts and cocktail parties and dinners, and seen how they approach larger donors. One thing that is ingrained in all of them, regardless of party or elective office, is that you have to collect certain information about your donor so that they can be reported. If the office has a fundraising limit, you have to document the donor and the amount.
That said, I am not an election law expert.
Even so, I wonder how the hell a political organization can collect million dollar untraceable, anonymous donations?
These Binance transactions make Nixon and CREEP look like pikers and choir boys.
RipNoLonger says:
Don’t worry. If Nixon and the CREEPs, Mitchel, et. al. had access to crypto currencies, they’d be all over it.
But plenty of funds were transferred in various bags without needing fancy bitcoin algorithms.
Bruce Olsen says:
Seems likely to me that DOGE’s job was to develop a scheme (perhaps aided by code changes) that would make payments that had not been approved for payment in any US government system.
Creating dollars and sending them to, perhaps, Mother Russia would have some appeal. It might be a heavy lift to create Treasuries, but then we know DOGE was there because he blabbed about the magic money machines, which includes the Treasury and the Fed.
The crypto markets all have APIs, so it’s only a matter of bullying (or firing) the right IT teams at Treasury. Then they could just create dollars and siphon them directly to $Trump via an API. Maybe that’s why he’s called Big Balls.
It only needs to happen once, of course.
Ginevra diBenci says:
Doesn’t the fact that ActBlue looked for and in fact exposed those foreign and/or suspect donations demonstrate the organization’s commitment to addressing this very issue? Surely anyone reading this EO would recognize the logical fallacy of “investigating” the very group that already has shown itself more than capable of monitoring itself.
And what does “Until recently” mean? (I know: whatever Stephen Miller and Pam Bondi want it to mean.) This is no way to initiate a constructive process.
Molly Pitcher says:
OT, but nowhere else to put this.
According to Slate and Nicole Wallace on MSNBC, Brad Bondi, brother of Pam Bondi, is running to take-over leadership of the DC Bar. Also Alicia Long, a deputy of Ed Martin, is running for Treasurer of the DC Bar. This would be very bad for democracy.
As a martial arts practitioner, I really like this idea. As a voter and citizen I do too.
Sent it on to my Rep and both my Senators. I would suggest others do the same.
earlofhuntingdon says:
Bruce Lee’s attitude notwithstanding, what style do you practice?
gmokegmoke says:
I am most involved with aikido but also do Yang long form tai chi, ba gua, qi gong, and my own stretches and movements. This old body is changing and my practice has to change with it.
Practicing martial arts has taught me not to use war metaphors. I don’t even like it when people say or write “fight” as it sets up opposition as a presupposition to everything else. “Fight” implies a face off and toe to toe confrontation and, as Bruce Lee might teach us, being able to move 100 pounds of force with a few ounces of strength seems to require movement off the line of direction and good timing. Dr Marcy’s suggestion here is within that spirit.
Excellent strategy! And some of the EOs, like the anti-semitism and foreign influence ones, are very straightforward with plenty of public evidence available.
I would like to add another EO that could be used in this way.
Among the flurries of Executive Orders that Trump signed in January was one entitled, “Delivering emergency price relief for American families and defeating the cost-of-living crisis.” In the order he says,
“I hereby order the heads of all executive departments and agencies to deliver emergency price relief, consistent with applicable law, to the American people and increase the prosperity of the American worker. This shall include pursuing appropriate actions to: lower the cost of housing and expand housing supply; eliminate unnecessary administrative expenses and rent-seeking practices that increase healthcare costs; eliminate counterproductive requirements that raise the costs of home appliances; create employment opportunities for American workers, including drawing discouraged workers into the labor force; and eliminate harmful, coercive “climate” policies that increase the costs of food and fuel. Within 30 days of the date of this memorandum, the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy shall report to me and every 30 days thereafter, on the status of the implementation of this memorandum.”
It has now been more than 90 days since this order was signed, so I would like to know if the Assistant to the President for Economy Policy actually submitted these reports. And, if so, I would like to know what is in it. Is it FOIAable? I would think the contents of these reports could be turned against the administration for its very weak and likely counterproductive efforts to actually “deliver emergency price relief” or “defeat the cost-of-living crisis.”
“Straw donation” “Dummy accounts”, just prepping by building a glossary to be used in court against the Fuhrer looks like great fun!
Ancillary to the topic but the FBI just arrested a sitting judge. According to Kash Patel, “We believe the judge intentionally misdirected federal agents away from the subject to be arrested in her courthouse, Edwardo Flores Ruiz, allowing the subject – an illegal alien – to evade arrest.”
Thanks for this! I wonder if it would help if the next Dem presidential candidate comes out with a ‘promise to America’ type thing (that folks can stick on their frig) pledging what they won’t do. Top on the list is not come out with shame ‘currency’ to sell access to the president.
I’m all for a political 95 Thesis but why limit it to Democrats? It’s long past time that the so called ‘progressive’ tankies demand that the GOP, Libertarian, and independent parties live up to the same standards. Also who gets to choose what’s on the list? What if it has some ridiculous litmus test item that is designed to split the vote no matter which side the candidate lands on? We have too many bad actors whose sole aim is to ‘burn it all down’ no matter who gets hurt in the process.
[Welcome back to emptywheel. SECOND REQUEST: Please choose and use a UNIQUE username with a minimum of 8 letters. We have adopted this minimum standard to support community security. Because your username is too short and far too similar to another community member’s, it will be temporarily changed to match the date/time of your first known comment until you have a new compliant username. Thanks. /~Rayne]
I very much hope the focus on internal contradictions helps as these matters wend their way through the courts.
I suspect though that this coup won’t end without violence.
Violence is baked into magas.
I agree, but have no inkling where the violence will occur. I expect the US Military will resist at some point.
For the Court Watchers, this question: How many years have we been waiting for the Courts to deliver the justice that is codified in our Constitution and laws?
RE: We don’t know when, who or where Homeland Security & IMS “law” personnel will attack. We often don’t even always know who they are, no uniforms seem to be required, masks, no insignia, etc. Militia men & women? Moonlighting rogue cops? Mercenaries? Where are municipal police when people are kidnaped of our streets?
We do know they are domestic terrorists.
Fbi arresting a judge today is very disturbing.
Didn’t Hunter Biden case prove that “selective prosecution” is a wild goose chase, legally speaking? The action here would require Congressional hearings, which Republicans are likely smart enough to refuse to hold.
I don’t think the above article reaches as far as prosecution, merely investigation. And what the Hunter Biden saga showed was that it is extremely difficult for a defendant to sustain a charge of selective prosecution, not that it was necessarily a waste of time, i.e., never worked. And there are many other things MOC can do short of holding hearings to publicize the Administration’s bad faith, hypocrisy and venality.
Even defending against a baseless ‘investigation’ can be expensive and damaging, ask Hunter Biden and the ones Durham tried and failed to convict. That’s even before considering the collateral damage to family and associates. The investigation can plod along for as long as Bondi thinks she can keep it going to please Convict-1 / Krasnov.
The judge in WI is about to find out as well what lawlessness is. That’s even before considering various ‘mistakes’ like doxxing Abrego Garcia’s family can do. They had to flee to a safe house.
I am not sure from this who of those opposing Trump should show that Pam Bondi refuses to examine Trump’s foreign contributions. What should they do and how should it be done? Of course, you just did it here, but are you encouraging people to talk about it, take it to the courts, or something else?
There was a “tell” by Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell (is that the former conservative politician from Alaska?). He categorically denied Whiskey Pete had used a GOVERNMENT computer. There was no mention of a PERSONAL computer.
Apologies. I posted on the wrong story. The above comment was supposed to go in the “Whiskey Pete’s Dirty Desktop” comment section.
He’s a different Sean Parnell.
The Alaska Sean Parnell has disappeared into the labyrinth of former oil executives who wormed their way to the top of Alaska politics, then retired to Houston or Tulsa after making sure our oil money didn’t get to Alaskans.
Or Florida. The key for many oil execs is to go somewhere with no personal income tax.
I know a fair number of politicians, of various parties, as well as party officials. I’ve watched them fundraise through mailers, in-person pressing the flesh, “meet the candidate” breakfasts and cocktail parties and dinners, and seen how they approach larger donors. One thing that is ingrained in all of them, regardless of party or elective office, is that you have to collect certain information about your donor so that they can be reported. If the office has a fundraising limit, you have to document the donor and the amount.
That said, I am not an election law expert.
Even so, I wonder how the hell a political organization can collect million dollar untraceable, anonymous donations?
I’ve seen this movie before. This is no different than the good old days of bringing briefcases full of cash to a candidate’s office. [Yes, I’m old. Now get off my lawn.]
These Binance transactions make Nixon and CREEP look like pikers and choir boys.
Don’t worry. If Nixon and the CREEPs, Mitchel, et. al. had access to crypto currencies, they’d be all over it.
But plenty of funds were transferred in various bags without needing fancy bitcoin algorithms.
Seems likely to me that DOGE’s job was to develop a scheme (perhaps aided by code changes) that would make payments that had not been approved for payment in any US government system.
Creating dollars and sending them to, perhaps, Mother Russia would have some appeal. It might be a heavy lift to create Treasuries, but then we know DOGE was there because he blabbed about the magic money machines, which includes the Treasury and the Fed.
The crypto markets all have APIs, so it’s only a matter of bullying (or firing) the right IT teams at Treasury. Then they could just create dollars and siphon them directly to $Trump via an API. Maybe that’s why he’s called Big Balls.
It only needs to happen once, of course.
Doesn’t the fact that ActBlue looked for and in fact exposed those foreign and/or suspect donations demonstrate the organization’s commitment to addressing this very issue? Surely anyone reading this EO would recognize the logical fallacy of “investigating” the very group that already has shown itself more than capable of monitoring itself.
And what does “Until recently” mean? (I know: whatever Stephen Miller and Pam Bondi want it to mean.) This is no way to initiate a constructive process.
OT, but nowhere else to put this.
According to Slate and Nicole Wallace on MSNBC, Brad Bondi, brother of Pam Bondi, is running to take-over leadership of the DC Bar. Also Alicia Long, a deputy of Ed Martin, is running for Treasurer of the DC Bar. This would be very bad for democracy.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/04/pam-bondi-legal-news-maga-dc-bar.html
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/trump-allies-bradley-bondi-control-dc-bar-association-rcna195253
As a martial arts practitioner, I really like this idea. As a voter and citizen I do too.
Sent it on to my Rep and both my Senators. I would suggest others do the same.
Bruce Lee’s attitude notwithstanding, what style do you practice?
I am most involved with aikido but also do Yang long form tai chi, ba gua, qi gong, and my own stretches and movements. This old body is changing and my practice has to change with it.
Practicing martial arts has taught me not to use war metaphors. I don’t even like it when people say or write “fight” as it sets up opposition as a presupposition to everything else. “Fight” implies a face off and toe to toe confrontation and, as Bruce Lee might teach us, being able to move 100 pounds of force with a few ounces of strength seems to require movement off the line of direction and good timing. Dr Marcy’s suggestion here is within that spirit.