(The Center Square) – A congressional investigation into online Democratic campaign contribution platform ActBlue is ongoing, with a new report from joint interim staff and a letter to the organization’s CEO requesting additional documents.

The platform aroused Republican suspicions leading up to the 2024 presidential election, with some elected officials raising concerns that Democrats might be using the platform to circumvent campaign finance laws. 

The newly released staff report claims that despite knowing that “both foreign and domestic” actors were using the platform fraudulently, ActBlue executives and staff did not vigilantly work to combat the platform’s exploitation. 

“Twice [in 2024] – once in April and once in September – ActBlue changed its fraud-prevention standards to make them ‘more lenient’” and later “attempted to hide the changes” to avoid looking suspicious, according to the report. 

“For example, ActBlue’s training guide for new fraud-prevention employees instructed them to ‘look for reasons to accept contributions,’ rather than err on the side of flagging suspicious donations,” the report reads. 

Recent news raises additional questions about ActBlue’s ability to comply with relevant federal election and campaign finance laws, according to a news release from the House Judiciary Committee. 

It cites reporting from The New York Times about “at least seven senior staff members, including ActBlue’s ‘highest-ranking legal officer,’” having resigned since late February. 

The chairmen of the Committee on House Administration, the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Judiciary Committee wrote to ActBlue CEO Regina Wallace-Jones for additional documentation regarding ActBlue’s legal compliance.

“ActBlue’s internal turmoil, lack of a functioning legal team, possible retaliatory actions, and failure to take fraud seriously raise a host of new questions about the platform’s ability to deter fraud and comply with legal requirements,” wrote the chairmen.

They asked to receive the documents and schedule two transcribed interviews by April 16.

(The Center Square) – The Tennessee Senate passed a bill that would limit the legal liability of pesticide makers as long as the labels meet federal standards.

Democrats said they were concerned that Senate Bill 527 would prevent consumers from suing chemical companies.

“It’s just amazing to me that we are taking away the rights of Tennesseans to defend themselves against harmful chemicals,” said Sen. Heidi Campbell, R-Nashville.

“The bill does not prevent anyone from suing,” said Sen. John Stevens, R-Huntingdon. “It does limit the liability in the event that there is a claim related to the label.”

Farmers call the products “crop protection.” Smith County farmer George McDonald told the Tennessee Senate Judiciary Committee in March that farmers are trained to use the products.

“If we keep chipping away at these tools that we have in our toolbox, we will not be able to use those tools and if we do not have these pesticides, taking them away from farmers will be like taking away tractors from farmers,” McDonald told the committee.

Passage was 21-7. The House version of the bill is on the calendar for next week’s meeting of the House Judiciary Committee.

A similar bill passed both chambers in Georgia and is now on Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk.

Bayer, who makes the popular weed killer Roundup, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that it is working to pass the bill in statehouses.

“Since litigation against glyphosate began, Bayer has paid out roughly $10 billion from an expensed & provisioned total of $16 billion to address these cases – funds that could be invested in R&D and used toward creating new technology for farmers, consumers and patients,” the company told the newspaper.

A Georgia jury awarded a man $2.1 billion in a lawsuit against Bayer. The man said the product caused his cancer.

(The Center Square) – Hurricane Helene’s death toll in North Carolina has grown to 107 and is 236 across seven states.

Gov. Josh Stein shared news of a death in the Avery County community of Newland. The wife of a couple camping was among those who died in earlier confirmations; the husband’s death was added on Thursday after his body was found.

The governor said the couple was camping on the last weekend of September when the storm hit.

This weekend marks the beginning of the 28th week of recovery. Damage is estimated at $60 billion.

Helene is arguably the worst natural disaster in state history. Hurricanes Floyd in 1999 and Hazel in 1954 have their place, as does Asheville’s Great Flood of 1916. Comparison is not apples to apples.

Helene made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane in Dekle Beach, Fla., on Sept. 26. It was expected to come north to the Appalachian Mountains; however, the rainfall total from its dissipation there exceeded all forecasts.

Some places got more than 30 inches, most were at 24 or more. Due to terrain, water often rushed before it pooled and flooded – very unlike the flooding that happens in the coastal plains.

AccuWeather said rainfall totals were 32.51 inches in Jeter Mountain, 31.36 inches in Busick, and 26.65 inches in Hughes.

Forty-two died in Buncombe County, 11 in Yancey and 10 in Henderson.

Respective state officials say 49 were killed in South Carolina, 34 in Georgia, 25 in Florida, 18 in Tennessee, two in Virginia and one in Indiana.

Numbers were confirmed by The Center Square based on information supplied by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services; South Carolina Department of Public Safety; Georgia Emergency Management Agency; Florida Department of Law Enforcement; Tennessee Emergency Management Agency; Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin; and the Gibson County Sheriff’s Office in Indiana.

Helene is the fourth most deadly hurricane from the Atlantic Basin in the last three-quarters of a century. Only Katrina (2005, deaths 1,392), Audrey (1957, deaths 416) and Camille (1969, deaths 256) killed more people.