I was the one who originally discovered this connection, so I feel a personal sense of responsibility for setting the record straight.
TL;DR - ActBlue Charities is literally just a payment processor, like PayPal or Stripe. They charge a 3.95% processing fee on transactions, like most other payment processors. Any money that is not kept by BLM goes to ActBlue Charities (a 501(c)(3)), NOT ActBlue (a PAC). Most recent tax returns for both are below. There is nothing to suggest that they are money laundering. The real story is in the comments.
I've been doing more research since making my original thread, and I believe I was MISTAKEN. Other threads have gotten a lot of attention (even stickied) here and articles have been published based on my findings. I loathe BLM and want nothing more than to see them taken down, but I value the truth above all else. I know you all do too.
I shouldn't have made such a definitive statement with such little understanding of the facts. I honestly had no idea it would blow up like it has, so I admittedly didn't put a lot of time into it. Anyway, here are the facts now:
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Donations made through blacklivesmatter.com go through ActBlue Charities, not ActBlue. This distinction is important because while ActBlue is a PAC, ActBlue Charities deals exclusively with tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organizations and is one themselves. The financial report I linked in my thread is NOT accurate. ActBlue Charities financial report is below.
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The vast majority of expenses for ActBlue Charities in 2018 appears to be the money they allocate to the various organizations that use them as their payment processor. As of now, I have no reason to believe that's not still the case. From their ToS:
Contributions to charitable organizations which are not cashed or affirmatively refused will go to ActBlue Charities.
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Of the expenses not allocated to the organizations, it appears that the rest of ActBlue Charities' expenses are spent on salaries (and BOY do their founders make a fuckton of money).
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Black Lives Matter (officially "Black Lives Matter Foundation") is a 501(c)(3).
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BLM's most recent statement is from 2017. We'll have to wait until next year to see their 2020 statement (they MUST file in 2021 or they will lose their tax-exempt status).
Resources below:
NOTE: On the 2017 Form 990 tax return, Part IX, line 11g expenses ("Other" fees for services) should have been listed in Schedule O at the bottom of the document, but it appears to be missing.
ActBlue Charities alternative tax info page (includes independent audit): https://csapp.800helpfla.com/CSPublicApp/CheckACharity/CheckACharity.aspx
ActBlue Charities marketing page: https://secure.actblue.com/abcharities
BLM Influence Watch profile: https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/black-lives-matter-foundation/
ActBlue Charities Influence Watch profile: https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/actblue-charities/
Thousand Currents (organization responsible for helping launch BLM Foundation and local chapters) Influence Watch profile: https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/thousand-currents/
UPDATE: PLEASE READ MY CORRECTION HERE
When you go to donate on the blacklivesmatter.com website, you're redirected here: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/ms_blm_homepage_2019
I've requested a financial report from the Black Lives Matter organization through ActBlue, so we'll see where that money is being allocated, or if it's literally just going straight to ActBlue and not even being designated to BLM (in which case all of these donations are just going straight to fund the Democratic presidential campaign).
Here's ActBlue's financial report for 2020: https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/expenditures.php?cycle=2020&cmte=C00401224
Only 98.3 PERCENT of donations are going toward contributions to campaign contributions guys, this is totally going to help black communities.
EDIT I originally typed that 98.3% go to salaries but I meant CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS, kind of an important oopsie lol
