<p>House Republicans are requesting testimony from Ronald Machen, an attorney for ActBlue, regarding the Democratic fundraising platform’s foreign donor screening practices. They allege that Machen's defense of these practices contradicts internal documents.</p>
<p>In a letter dated Monday, Chairmen Bryan Steil (R-WI), Jim Jordan (R-OH), and James Comer (R-KY) asked Machen to arrange a transcribed interview concerning statements made by CEO Regina Wallace-Jones to Congress about passport collection and donor outreach. During a separate interview on June 10, Wallace-Jones invoked her Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination 22 times.</p>
<p>The House Administration, Judiciary, and Oversight and Government Reform committee leaders requested that the interview be arranged by 5 p.m. on October 8.</p>
<p>“Assertions you made in your briefing—and later repeated in the ‘white paper’ you authored—appear to contradict information in documents in the possession of the Committees,” the letter stated.</p>
<p>The demand follows Machen’s briefing on September 11, in which he defended Wallace-Jones’s November 2023 description of ActBlue’s safeguards. Republicans argue that his review did not include significant evidence, including changes to ActBlue’s vetting practices during 2024.</p>
<p>ActBlue has faced scrutiny from conservatives over allegations that its safeguards are insufficient to prevent fraudulent or potentially unlawful foreign donations. The platform disputes these allegations, claiming that the investigation is politically motivated.</p>
<p>In a response on September 16, ActBlue stated that its review found that 99.99% of nearly $990 million in political contributions in 2023 came from donors who provided a U.S. address or passport number.</p>
<p>“The results completely debunk the claims made against us,” ActBlue asserted.</p>
<p>Republicans argue that internal procedures undermine this defense. According to their letter, employees could use alternative methods to verify citizenship and enter placeholders such as “ACTBLUEXX” in passport fields, allowing subsequent donations without requiring a passport number.</p>
<p>The chairmen contrasted Machen’s conclusions with a review conducted by Dana Remus, a former White House counsel in the Biden administration, which identified a “substantial risk” of foreign contributions and questioned the accuracy of Wallace-Jones’s assurances.</p>
<p>“Your review appears to be nothing more than an after-the-fact sugarcoating of ActBlue’s misconduct and Ms. Wallace-Jones’s misrepresentations to the House Administration Committee,” the chairmen wrote.</p>
<p>While Wallace-Jones did not answer questions before the committee on June 10, she accused Republicans of “abusing their power to target ActBlue” in a video statement, asserting that her decision to invoke the Fifth Amendment was not an admission of wrongdoing.</p>
<p>Republicans’ inquiry into ActBlue has involved years of document requests, reports, and testimony demands. They issued subpoenas in July of last year and threatened contempt proceedings in June, continuing to seek records and explanations ahead of the midterm elections.</p>