WATCH: Michigan Widow Told FEC Records Show $150K in ActBlue Donations
An 88-year-old widow in rural Michigan says she was shocked to learn that federal campaign finance records list her as a major donor to Democratic causes through ActBlue.
The woman, Elizabeth Waffle, lives in a trailer and says she does not have anything close to the money reflected in the records. According to reporting highlighted by journalist Charlie LeDuff, Federal Election Commission filings attribute 14,696 separate donations to her name over the past five years. The total is nearly $150,000.
That works out to roughly eight donations per day, every day, for five years.
Waffle told LeDuff she has made some small political donations before. She described herself as a “true believer” in liberal causes and acknowledged giving some money to Democrat U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed. But she said the scale of the donations tied to her name does not make sense.
Records reportedly show 47 donations to El-Sayed over the last two years alone. Other donations were tied to old addresses. Some went to candidates Waffle said she did not know.
When shown the records, Waffle pushed back hard.
“One hundred and fifty thousand?… Hell no. I don’t have that kind of money. This is very abnormal,” she said after reviewing the records documenting the contributions attributed to her.
“I think it’s wrong, and I think there’s something in there that’s off.”
The case lands while ActBlue, the Democratic Party’s massive online fundraising platform, is already under heavy scrutiny from congressional investigators, state officials, and federal authorities. The questions center on donor verification, possible straw donations, prepaid cards, and whether money can be routed through the system under names that do not match the true source of the funds.
ActBlue has been a dominant force in Democratic fundraising for years. That is exactly why these allegations matter. If records are showing thousands of donations from elderly Americans who say they never made them, investigators need clear answers fast.
Investigative journalist and O’Keefe Media Group founder James O’Keefe pointed to his organization’s prior work on the issue, saying, “This isn’t news to us—we’ve been investigating ActBlue fraud for years. Illegal donations threaten election integrity. The work to expose the truth continues…”
The broader ActBlue controversy has been building for years. In late 2022, engineer Chris Gleason reported finding what he called “Campaign Finance Mules” in public donation data. These were not billionaire donors or political power players. They appeared to be ordinary Americans whose names were attached to unusually high numbers of small donations.
Those patterns later drew attention from attorneys general and congressional investigators. ActBlue and other donation platforms have reportedly been examined by at least 20 state attorneys general, along with the House Administration Committee. In Waukesha County, a judge also allowed limited discovery involving ActBlue to move forward in a lawsuit.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton formally requested a criminal referral to the U.S. Department of Justice in October 2024, seeking an investigation into ActBlue. His office alleged illicit activity involving straw donations, false identities, and untraceable payment methods.
Other officials, including Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, and Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray, also launched or pursued inquiries tied to ActBlue in 2024. Miyares announced an investigation into ActBlue, ActBlue Civics, Inc., and ActBlue Charities, Inc. after allegations of fraudulent, deceptive, and illegal activity in Virginia.
In April 2026, President Trump ordered an investigation into alleged unlawful “Voter Mule” activity involving ActBlue.
For Waffle, though, the issue is not some abstract fight in Washington. It is personal. Her name, according to the records reviewed, is attached to nearly 15,000 donations she says she could not have made. And now investigators face the obvious question: how many more names are in the same position?