What would you call an organization that collects money from the public and distributes it to organizations that bail out criminals, that support terrorist organizations and that pay people who advocate terrorism within the United States?

Certainly, you would refer to them by a variety of names. You might even call them criminals.

What I have described is a mainstream organization that is presently operating in the open in the United States and has not experienced any consequences for its actions in the decades that it has been in operation. It is not a fictitious organization that has been pulled from the pages of a comic book. No, it’s real. It’s ActBlue, the Democratic Party fundraising juggernaut that collects billions of dollars in donations annually from the public, distributes the funds and charges a 4% processing fee.

Contributing to a candidate, PAC or other advocacy or not-for-profit organization is a relatively simple process. Just provide your payment information and address, and you can donate immediately. However, this presents a problem for which ActBlue has faced considerable scrutiny.

Is ActBlue vetting and verifying the accuracy of the information?

Donations to political campaigns by foreign nationals (individuals who are either not U.S. citizens or who have not been lawfully permitted to reside in the United States) are explicitly prohibited by federal law. ActBlue’s primary defense against this, seemingly, is the requirement of an address and a text section below the payment information section that outlines the rules, including the requirement that the individual be a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident. Thus, the only requirement for donating is to provide the amount, payment information and address.

This led the attorneys general of numerous states last year to submit a letter to ActBlue requesting information regarding the platform’s verification of donors’ information. The AGs were concerned that ActBlue’s systems might facilitate straw donations by foreign nationals, and that it might be effortless to input a fictitious address.

ActBlue has responded to those concerns with some changes to boost security, such as requiring donors input a verification code for purchases with credit cards.

But fraud security isn’t the only concern when it comes to ActBlue. Donations have been made through the ActBlue platform to organizations that have played a role in questionably legal activities. Recipients of donations through ActBlue include bail funds that worked to free rioters as buildings burned in Minneapolis in 2020, various pro-Palestinian groups that are linked to Hamas — a designated terrorist organization — and groups that are rallying protests against Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk, who has blamed the efforts for vandalism and firebombings of Tesla vehicles and property.

ActBlue has played a hand in raising money for organizations that bailed out hundreds, potentially thousands, of criminals from jail. In a 2023 incident, for example, a violent man in Texas was released by an organization that solicits donations through ActBlue. The man subsequently engaged in a shooting spree across the state that resulted in the deaths of six individuals and the injury of three.

Top officials at ActBlue seem to think that not even they can get away with it for more longer. At least seven top ActBlue officials resigned recently, following accusations that the fundraising platform is permitting unlawful financial contributions.

The platform hosts organizations that are notorious for engaging in unlawful and harmful political activities. Greenpeace, an organization that maintains a voter action page on ActBlue, successfully advocated to stop the production of golden rice, a genetically modified rice rich in Vitamin A, in the Philippines. This rice was created to be distributed to African and Asian nations, whose populations notoriously suffer from Vitamin A deficiency. In Africa alone, thousands of children die per year as a result of their blindness caused by vitamin A deficiency. Scientists have warned that thousands of children in the Philippines could die without access to golden rice.

A win for the environment in Greenpeace’s eyes?

To continue the pain, a CNN investigation conducted last year revealed that ActBlue and WinRed (the Republican equivalent) have been exploiting the information provided by elderly donors to send misleading unsolicited text messages and emails, purportedly from the candidates themselves. This has resulted in the deception of elderly persons who are lonely or have dementia into donating more and more to their causes.

In one case, an elderly man innocently contributed over $400,000 to then-candidate Donald Trump and other Republicans, citing the “nice” messages that the president’s son sent to him (the messages were automated, targeted, sent to thousands simultaneously, and likely written by a campaign staffer).

Studies have demonstrated that the elderly are more susceptible to personalized requests for donations, particularly when they receive text messages that appear to originate from candidates and request additional contributions.

So, how many foreign nationals have contributed to Democratic organizations that disrupt and cause internal division in the United States? How much foreign influence is being directly caused by ActBlue and other similar online platforms within the United States, right under our noses? We might never know. But what we do know is that it can happen — and ActBlue isn’t doing enough to stop it.

And that is the most frightening prospect of all.

Armstrong Williams (www.armstrongwilliams.com; @arightside) is a political analyst, syndicated columnist and owner of the broadcasting company, Howard Stirk Holdings. He is also part owner of The Baltimore Sun.