A new investigation is now underway involving one of the most vocal progressive Democrats in Congress.
On April 2, the Federal Election Commission officially launched a probe into Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) following a complaint filed by the conservative Coolidge-Reagan Foundation. The complaint, submitted on March 26, centers around suspicious donations made to Crockett’s 2024 re-election campaign through ActBlue, the Democrat Party’s prominent fundraising platform.
According to the FEC’s letter to the foundation, “The respondents will be notified of this complaint within five business days.” The letter, written by FEC Assistant General Counsel Wanda D. Brown, adds, “You will be notified as soon as the Federal Election Commission (FEC) takes final action on your client’s complaint. Should you receive any additional information in this matter, please forward it to the Office of the General Counsel.” That letter was sent to Dan Backer, a Washington attorney representing the Coolidge-Reagan Foundation.
Backer confirmed to The Daily Signal, “The FEC opened an investigation. There is a process, but they are investigating.”
At the heart of the complaint is a donor named Randy Best, a 73-year-old Texas resident who is reported to have made 53 separate donations totaling $595 to Crockett’s campaign through ActBlue. However, Best’s wife, featured in a video circulated by Crockett’s potential 2026 opponent, Sholdon Daniels, denied any knowledge of the donations. That has raised concerns that Best—and possibly others—never actually made the contributions attributed to them.
WATCH:
Jasmine Crockett received $16,000 in political contributions from an elderly retired couple..
Sholdon Daniels, who’s running against Jasmine Crockett, went to their house to confirm the contributions AND “THEY HAD NO IDEA WHAT THESE CHARGES WERE”
INSANE!!!
@SholdonDaniels pic.twitter.com/DVkuZfCj9s
— TONY™ (@TONYxTWO) March 12, 2025
Crockett’s campaign has received approximately $870,000 in total through ActBlue, according to the Coolidge-Reagan Foundation’s filing.
The complaint reads: “Rep. Crockett, through her principal campaign committee Respondent Jasmine for US, has received thousands of other donations through ActBlue totaling over $870,000. It is unclear how many of these are similarly fraudulent transactions, made in the name of unsuspecting innocent people who did not actually provide the funds.”
While Crockett is not the only Democrat using the ActBlue platform, the issue has drawn growing scrutiny from congressional Republicans and several GOP-led state attorneys general. Previous investigations and reports have cited examples of elderly Americans allegedly unaware that donations were being made in their names.
Chicago, Illinois, August 19, 2024: Texas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett at the Democratic National Convention.
Backer told The Daily Signal, “It could be a reasonable defense for Rep. Crockett and other Democrats to say, ‘We didn’t solicit those donations, they all came in from ActBlue.’ But that would be willful blindness.”
He added, “The problem is legally, the campaign committee treasurer is responsible for due diligence. The treasurer could say, ‘We had absolute confidence in ActBlue.’ But ActBlue has been under investigation by state and federal authorities. That excuse might have worked a year ago.”
As of now, Crockett has 15 days to respond to the allegations, though the FEC typically grants 30 to 60-day extensions during investigations. Neither Crockett’s congressional office, her campaign, nor ActBlue responded to media inquiries regarding the matter.
ActBlue has consistently maintained that it follows all applicable campaign finance laws and characterized the growing criticism as partisan in nature.
