Federal lawsuit seeks to halt Paxton’s politically motivated investigation targeting the nation’s leading small-dollar Democratic fundraising platform
BOSTON, May 1, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Today, ActBlue filed a federal lawsuit against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, alleging that he used the power of his office to violate ActBlue’s First and Fourteenth Amendment constitutional rights. The suit claims Paxton opened an undercover investigation the day after a fundraising surge for his Democratic opponent made headlines and filed a lawsuit built on claims his own investigators had already disproven.
The complaint also points out that Paxton has never investigated WinRed — the Republican fundraising counterpart to ActBlue — despite documented problems there, and that the FEC has flagged nearly $883,000 in apparently illegal donations to Paxton’s own Senate campaign across three separate inquiries in less than a year.
“Ken Paxton has spent more than two years using the power of his office to investigate, harass, and sue ActBlue,” said Lawrence Oliver, Chief Legal Officer at ActBlue. “The timing of Paxton fighting for his political life in his run for a U.S. Senate seat and his use of the Attorney General’s office to attack ActBlue, should not be lost on anyone. He is wasting taxpayer dollars to benefit his political ambitions. That is not law enforcement. It is retaliation against constitutionally protected political speech and association, and it is exactly what the First Amendment forbids.”
Since December 2023, Paxton has initiated several investigations into ActBlue in an attempt to benefit him and the Republican Party. The federal lawsuit asks a judge to declare Paxton’s investigation and Texas civil action unconstitutional violations of the First Amendment and to block him from continuing to pursue them.
A Destructive Assault on Democracy
Republicans from President Trump on down are targeting ActBlue because of its success raising money for Democratic candidates across the country. In the first quarter of 2026 alone, ActBlue raised more than $568 million for Democratic candidates and mission-aligned causes.
Oliver continued, “Republicans are trying to flout the law to stop us because of who we are, what we stand for, and what we have accomplished. When the government uses its power to target people and organizations it opposes, it creates a dangerous precedent for anyone who cares about democracy. That’s why we’re committed to standing up to defend ourselves, our partners and our democratic values.”
KEY FACTS SUPPORTING ACTBLUE’S CASE
Paxton’s timing is damning:
- The day U.S. Senate Candidate James Talarico announced that he had raised $2.5 million in 24 hours (Feb. 18, 2026) – over $2.2 million of which was raised via ActBlue’s platform – Paxton’s investigators began conducting undercover transactions on ActBlue’s platform.
- Paxton filed his Texas lawsuit on April 20, 2026—five days after national reporting called Talarico a “fund-raising juggernaut” who had raised more than $36M through ActBlue.
Paxton’s own investigators produced evidence contradicting his primary assertion:
- In the course of their investigation, Paxton’s investigators tried three times to use an American Express gift card on ActBlue—all three attempts were automatically rejected pursuant to ActBlue’s anti-fraud policies. Paxton then filed a lawsuit falsely alleging ActBlue “secretly resumed” accepting gift cards. He hid these facts from the Texas court.
Paxton’s lawsuit is textbook viewpoint discrimination:
- Paxton announced the lawsuit on conservative podcasts, describing ActBlue as raising “billions for liberal Democrats.” His press release explicitly noted ActBlue “funds primarily left-wing campaigns”—framing the alleged Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA) violation in partisan, not consumer-protection, terms.
- He has never investigated WinRed, ActBlue’s Republican counterpart, despite documented refund rates of up to 20% of funds raised. His own Senate campaign has been the subject of three FEC inquiries about potentially illegal contributions.
Courts have already found Paxton weaponizes his office to retaliate against constitutionally protected activity:
- A federal court enjoined Paxton’s revocation of Latino civic group JOLT’s charter (Jan. 2026), finding bad faith. The D.C. Circuit affirmed a preliminary injunction blocking Paxton’s investigation of Media Matters, citing “uncontested evidence of Paxton’s retaliatory motive” (2025).
For more than two decades, ActBlue has been a trusted, secure and vital part of American democracy, providing Democratic campaigns, organizations, and donors with a full suite of tools to participate and win at every level of the ballot. To learn more about ActBlue, visit www.actblue.com
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SOURCE ActBlue, LLC
