Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray said he is investigating ActBlue Wyoming, a political action committee that facilitates campaign donations to Democratic candidates.
"The widespread allegations around ActBlue are very concerning," he said. "It's very important that we ensure that PACs are following the Wyoming election code."
Gray is referring to allegations that accuse the national ActBlue organization of processing fraudulent donations. Republicans, like the Virginia Attorney General, say they're concerned about potential money laundering and point to daily donations adding up to "tens of thousands of dollars" across multiple years.
ActBlue responded, saying the allegations are false and a "partisan political attack."
"Republicans simply cannot accept that millions of Democrats are energized and engaged in the political process, and are instead resorting to political attacks and spreading false accusations," reads a statement posted to ActBlue’s X account.
The Harris campaign raised $200 million in the first week after Biden withdrew from the presidential race. It raised another $36 million in the 24 hours following Harris' running mate announcement.
The claim that ActBlue is acting nefariously originates in 2023 with James O'Keefe, a conservative provocateur who founded Project Veritas, famous for spreading misinformation about voter fraud in 2020 and trying but failing to plant a bogus news story in the Washington Post.
A report from Maryland Matters called O'Keefe's recent money laundering allegations "dubious."
"Many of the claims in [O'Keefe's] video are difficult to independently recreate and appear overstated," the story states. "In some cases, contributions may have been double-counted (or more) because of how federal elections reports treat donations sent to candidates through entities such as ActBlue and WinRed, a Republican counterpart."
In Wyoming, Gray has not provided evidence of an Equality State-version of the scheme alleged by O'Keefe and others.
"One of the roles of the Wyoming Secretary of State is to investigate complaints, investigations of potential violations of the Wyoming election code," he said. "I remain committed to a thorough review of contributions to ensure compliance with Wyoming law."
During the 2022 elections, more than $60,000 passed through ActBlue Wyoming, according to campaign finance filings from that year. In 2024 so far, more than $25,000 has passed through the PAC.
