House Republicans threatened ActBlue with contempt of Congress on Monday, escalating a yearlong probe into allegations the Democratic fundraising giant failed to prevent fraudulent and possibly foreign political donations.
Three GOP committee chairmen accused the organization of improperly withholding more than 400 subpoenaed documents under broad claims of attorney-client privilege — and gave the company until Friday to comply or face contempt proceedings.
“These documents reportedly contain evidence that ActBlue accepted foreign donations, misled Congress, and then retaliated against an employee who spoke up about it.”
The letter was signed by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH), House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil (R-WI), and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY).
The dispute centers on congressional subpoenas issued in July last year after ActBlue halted voluntary cooperation with lawmakers investigating the platform’s fraud-prevention practices.
Republicans have argued that weaknesses in ActBlue’s verification systems could allow foreign nationals and other bad actors to funnel illegal contributions into U.S. elections.
According to the chairmen, ActBlue previously told Congress it had produced all non-privileged responsive documents. But reporting by the New York Times in April referenced internal records that were never turned over — including a resignation letter from former interim general counsel Aaron Ting and an internal message from former legal counsel Zain Ahmad.
Ting resigned in February last year after raising concerns that ActBlue was not adequately addressing questions about the legality of its screening procedures for foreign donations and its prior representations to Congress.
Ahmad later alleged in an internal communication that he faced retaliation for reporting misconduct.
The lawmakers argued that neither document appears protected by attorney-client privilege because both were created in the context of employment disputes, rather than for the purpose of providing legal advice.
The latest threat follows CEO Regina Wallace-Jones’s June 10 appearance before the House Administration Committee, where she repeatedly invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and declined to answer lawmakers’ questions about the platform’s operations.
In a separate video statement, Wallace-Jones accused Republican lawmakers of “abusing their power to target ActBlue” and said her decision to invoke the Fifth Amendment was not an admission of wrongdoing.
ActBlue, founded in 2004, has raised more than $19 billion for Democratic candidates and causes, including nearly $2 billion during the 2024 election cycle.
