ActBlue is suing Texas AG Ken Paxton, alleging political retaliation over the investigation

Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue is suing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, accusing Republicans of using his office as a “retaliation” to punish the group for its political activity and asking a federal judge to block his investigation and lawsuit against the organization.

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

“I will prosecute those who break the law.”

ActBlue’s lawsuit, filed Friday in federal court in Boston, seeks to challenge a lawsuit Paxton filed last month in Texas district court accusing ActBlue of misleading Congress and the public about its donation practices. ActBlue said Paxton’s actions were part of an illegal retaliation campaign targeting the nation’s small-dollar Democratic Alliance platform.

TEXAS AG PAXTON SUALS DEM FUNDRAISING PLATFORM ACTBLUE, ALLEGING ‘FRAUD AND FOREIGN DONATIONS’.

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

“Paxton’s fight for his political life when he ran for the US 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’s not law enforcement. It’s retaliation against constitutionally protected speech and assembly, and that’s exactly what the First Amendment prohibits.”

DEM ACTRAISING GIANT ACTBLUE DEVELOPED FOR ALLEGEDLY CHEATING CONGRESS ON INTERNATIONAL DONATIONS.

ActBlue alleges Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican candidate for the US Senate, is investigating a Democratic Alliance fundraiser to target his potential opponent in the November election, James Talarico. (Julio Cortez/AP Photo)

ActBlue also disputes the special prosecution, noting that Paxton never investigated WinRed — ActBlue’s fellow Republican fundraiser — alleging in the lawsuit that “Paxton has a history of targeting Democratic-aligned organizations.”

“During his tenure as Texas Attorney General, Paxton demonstrated an emphasis on the enforcement of voting rights organizations and political speech he deemed compatible with the Democratic Party,” the lawsuit continued. “He has always sought to suppress speech he disagrees with and to harass his political opponents by abusing the power of his Office.”

ActBlue cited a New York Times report that Talarico “posted strong fundraising numbers for the first quarter of 2026,” which may have been the basis for Paxton’s opening of his investigation.

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The timing of his investigation shows political intent, ActBlue’s lawsuit says. The group says Paxton’s investigators began conducting undercover operations at the ActBlue site on 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 lawsuit in Texas five days after a national report describing Talarico as a major fundraising threat that raised more than $36 million through the speaker.

The lawsuit marks an outgrowth of a broader Republican-backed campaign targeting ActBlue and other online fundraising platforms. President Donald Trump last year ordered his Justice Department to investigate the groups, and Paxton has followed ActBlue with a series of inquiries dating back to December 2023.

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The issue comes as it is reported that the Democratic National Committee is in charge over $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 ruled out 2025. report titled “Fraud at ActBlue.”

“ActBlue has acted in good faith at all times,” the group wrote in a statement after sending a letter to the committees last week before filing Paxton’s lawsuit.

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

“We are asking the Committees to do the same: engage with us directly before sending incriminating public letters, and answer outstanding questions about the relationship between their oversight work and the DOJ investigation ordered by the President who has made no secret of his hostility to ActBlue.

“We see what this is,” the statement said. “And we will continue to be visible, continue to set the record straight – because that’s what really seems obvious. Not as a rhetorical point. As a practice.”

Paxton’s Texas lawsuit, filed April 20, seeks financial penalties and asks a state court to stop ActBlue from accepting donations through gift cards and prepaid cards. Paxton suspects that those payment methods can hide who is donating and enable illegal donations, including from outsiders. His lawsuit also said ActBlue continued to process gift card donations after it said in 2024 it would stop doing so.

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ActBlue denied the allegations.

“This is a subtle attempt to interfere with Ken Paxton’s many legal and ethical issues before his trial next month,” ActBlue spokeswoman De’Andra Roberts-LaBoo told Fox News in an April 20 email statement. “If he and his Republican allies really cared about donor fraud, they would be working to strengthen security standards across the board, including their operations, rather than focusing on ActBlue.

“Our platform has done more than any other, regardless of party, to prevent inappropriate donations and protect donors. Perfect position.”

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Investigators from Paxton’s office tried three times to use an American Express gift card on the ActBlue platform, and all three attempts were rejected by the platform’s fraud protection tools, according to the complaint.

ActBlue said Paxton, however, filed a lawsuit alleging the group “secretly resumed” accepting gift cards and failed to disclose the failed Texas court audit, calling the allegations “false and inflammatory.”

“Paxton’s decision to use his public office to target ActBlue with legal sanctions as punishment for its protected speech and political association 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, acting as a conduit for individual donors.

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The lawsuit asks a federal judge to declare Paxton’s investigation and the Texas civil suit unconstitutional for ActBlue’s First and 14th Amendment rights and bar him from pursuing them.

Reuters contributed to this report.