Republican senator Marco Rubio (Fla.) called for an investigation into the Democratic campaign fundraiser ActBlue after it reportedly collected donations fraudulently listed under the names of elderly Americans without their knowledge.
Rubio demanded that the Federal Election Commission investigate the fundraising company and urged the FEC to require credit card CVV codes from donors to prevent fraud, Fox News reported.
"It should come as no surprise that ActBlue serves as [a] vessel for fraud, considering the intentional lack of security engrained within their donation processes and systems," Rubio wrote in a letter to the FEC.
The Florida senator expressed concern over "thousands of dollars in political donations" that were listed with the names and addresses of Americans who say they never made the donations.
"In knowing that foreign actors use fake accounts to exploit donation systems that do not have robust verification processes and systems in place, most individual campaigns and political action committees (PACs) require CVV numbers as part of making an online donation," Rubio continued. "However, in breaking with most organizations, ActBlue does not require CVV numbers as a requirement for donating, and thus lending itself as a facilitator of fraud."
Last week, ActBlue cut 17 percent of its workforce to reduce costs, prompting a critical response from its workers’ union.
"Prioritizing executive profit over rank and file workers’ livelihoods does not live up to [ActBlue’s] progressive values," the union said in a statement.