Bryan Steil: “I think we can all agree foreign funding has no place in American elections. Over the past year, my Committee on House…”

“I think we can all agree foreign funding has no place in American elections. Over the past year, my Committee on House Administration has investigated multiple situations, and in particular the Democratic online fundraising platform of ActBlue, identifying and showing the vulnerabilities that exist that could be exploited by foreign actors. We have uncovered that the platform previously wasn't requiring the use of a CVV code. That is the three or four digit number on the back of your credit card. It is a simple financial safeguard most online companies use to deter bad actors. The Committee on House Administration has recently subpoenaed ActBlue for documents related to potential foreign influence in campaign funding. As chairman, I have introduced legislation to require the CVV number and prohibit prepaid cards from being used to make contributions, a pathway for foreign entities, including drug cartels, to launder money. The SHIELD Act would prohibit political committees from accepting online contributions unless the contributor provides the CVV number and the billing address associated with the card and also prohibit them from accepting online contributions from prepaid cards. It is imperative that we are increasing trust and transparency in our elections. All parties should be complying with Federal election law, including campaign finance laws. Foreign actors have no place contributing in American elections.…”