ActBlue CEO Invokes Fifth Amendment at House Hearing on Foreign Donation Allegations

ActBlue CEO Regina Wallace-Jones appeared before the House Administration Committee on Wednesday under subpoena, declining to answer every question posed to her — including a question about her own name — by invoking her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Committee Chairman Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) opened the hearing by citing three alleged violations: allowing foreign donations on the platform, lying to Congress, and withholding documents subpoenaed by the committee. The probe centers on a 2023 letter Wallace-Jones sent Steil asserting that ActBlue only processes donations accompanied by passport information, a claim ActBlue's own outside counsel later warned may have been inaccurate, as foreign nationals could bypass requirements through third-party processors like PayPal and Venmo. Five current and former ActBlue employees had previously invoked the Fifth Amendment a combined 140–146 times during depositions. Wallace-Jones pre-announced her intention to assert Fifth Amendment rights in a Washington Post op-ed published the morning of the hearing, arguing the probe was politically motivated harassment rather than legitimate oversight. Democrats on the panel, including Reps. Jamie Raskin and Joseph Morelle, used their time to highlight what they called hypocrisy, pushing for equivalent scrutiny of WinRed, the Republican fundraising platform; a motion to subpoena WinRed's CEO was tabled on a party-line vote. Steil said after the hearing that the investigation would continue, and the committee has also requested transcribed interviews from five ActBlue board members.