House Republicans are threatening to hold the CEO of Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue in contempt of Congress as part of an ongoing investigation into what they describe as an “unserious approach to fraud prevention,” CBS News reports.
In a letter sent Tuesday to ActBlue CEO Regina Wallace-Jones, the Republican chairs of three House committees — Rep. Bryan Steil of Wisconsin, Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, and Rep. James Comer of Kentucky — wrote, “There is considerable reason to believe that ActBlue may have deliberately withheld” certain documents “to impede our investigation.”
The House Judiciary Committee, Oversight Committee, and Administration Committee, which oversees elections, have been investigating for more than a year allegations that ActBlue may have allowed “bad actors to make fraudulent political donations, including from foreign sources.”
ActBlue serves as a major conduit for grassroots donations to Democratic candidates, acting as a leading platform for processing contributions to political campaigns.
Last week, The New York Times reported that a law firm working for ActBlue found that Wallace-Jones may have misled Congress about the company’s procedures for vetting donations to ensure they were not coming from foreign nationals. In July, House Republicans issued a subpoena for documents and communications related to the company, following earlier reports of staff departures.
ActBlue has denied any wrongdoing. In an early April statement, the company said Wallace-Jones “never made false statements to Congress” and that ActBlue “remains stable and stronger than ever.”
A House Republican aide told CBS News that lawmakers are considering all options to compel compliance with their requests, including a potential vote to hold Wallace-Jones in contempt of Congress. Failing to comply with a congressional subpoena can constitute a federal misdemeanor if done “willfully,” with enforcement handled by the Justice Department.
In their letter, the committee chairs stated they “are prepared to use available mechanisms to enforce our subpoenas.”
The investigation comes as Republicans, now in control of both Congress and the White House, increase scrutiny of Democratic fundraising operations. Republicans commonly use the WinRed platform to process political donations.
In April of last year, President Trump directed the Department of Justice to investigate what he described as “extremely troubling evidence that online fundraising platforms have been willing participants in schemes to launder excessive and prohibited contributions to political candidates and committees.” The directive highlighted concerns about unlawful “straw donor” schemes and foreign contributions in U.S. elections.
In their latest request, Steil, Jordan, and Comer asked Wallace-Jones to provide documents and communications related to ActBlue’s policies for preventing donations from foreign nationals, as well as any “potential or actual use of ActBlue by foreign nationals to make political contributions.” They requested compliance with the subpoenas and additional document demands within two weeks.
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