House Republicans threatened on Monday to hold Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue in contempt of Congress, escalating a yearlong investigation into allegations that the organization failed to prevent fraudulent and possibly foreign political donations.
In a four-page letter to ActBlue CEO Regina Wallace-Jones, the Republican chairmen of three House committees accused the fundraising giant 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 possible contempt proceedings.
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).
“These documents reportedly contain evidence that ActBlue accepted foreign donations, misled Congress, and then retaliated against an employee who spoke up about it,” the lawmakers wrote in a separate press release. “ActBlue appears to be withholding these documents from the Committees in an attempt to cover up the scope and duration of its misconduct.”
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 committee leaders, ActBlue previously told Congress it had produced all non-privileged responsive documents. But lawmakers said 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.
“On June 5, ActBlue belatedly produced a log of responsive materials that it deemed privileged, but refused to produce Mr. Ting’s resignation letter or Mr. Ahmad’s message,” the chairmen wrote.
In a statement to the Washington Examiner, a spokeswoman from ActBlue dodged questions about complying with the renewed demands for records from House Republicans, saying instead “We have produced a large volume of relevant materials for the committees on a rolling basis for months.”
The spokesperson claimed that the committees are “now engaged in an abuse of their oversight authority by demanding disclosure of certain confidential attorney client privileged documents,” without specifying what aspects of their requests are supposedly off-limits to lawmakers.
Republicans’ latest threat follows 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.
The controversy has intensified amid broader scrutiny of ActBlue’s fundraising practices. Republicans have pointed to internal legal memoranda, whistleblower allegations, and multiple employees invoking the Fifth Amendment during congressional depositions as evidence warranting further investigation.
ActBlue, founded in 2004, has raised more than $19 billion for Democratic candidates and causes, including nearly $2 billion during the 2024 election cycle.
ACTBLUE CEO PLEADS THE FIFTH DURING CONGRESSIONAL QUESTIONING ABOUT FOREIGN DONATIONS
Democrats, meanwhile, have sought similar records and information from Republicans’ counterpart fundraising arm, WinRed. In a recent letter from ranking Democratic counterparts, they requested a deadline of last Friday for compliance from WinRed.
The Washington Examiner contacted Rep. Jame Raskin (D-MD) to inquire whether his office had received a response from WinRed since the deadline passed last week.
