<p><a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/actblue/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">ActBlue</a> is implementing stricter passport checks for overseas donors after <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/house-republicans/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">House Republicans</a> identified weaknesses in the <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/democratic-party/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Democratic</a> fundraising platform’s screening procedures, raising questions about its previous assurances to Congress.</p>
<p>The new program, announced on Sunday in a press release by ActBlue, requires passport images and identity checks instead of the previous system that allowed passport-number entries to pass without validation. This change enables U.S. citizens abroad to resume donating after ActBlue suspended contributions from outside the United States in 2025 due to scrutiny over its foreign donation vetting process.</p>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img alt="Jim Jordan." class="wp-image-4756023" height="682" src="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/AP26204397489891.jpg?w=696" width="1024" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) speaks before the House Judiciary Committee at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)</figcaption></figure>
<p>House Judiciary Committee Chairman <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/jim-jordan/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Jim Jordan</a> (R-OH) credited the changes to the committee's investigation in an interview with the <em>Washington Examiner</em> on Tuesday, stating, “None of this would have happened but for our investigation.”</p>
<p>Jordan also questioned the timing of ActBlue’s introduction of stronger safeguards following an outside legal review that defended its practices. He noted that executives and lawyers associated with the platform had previously refused to answer investigators’ questions.</p>
<p>“Ten out of 10 took the Fifth, and now out of the blue, they came up with this,” Jordan said, referring to ActBlue’s executives, including CEO Regina Wallace-Jones, who invoked the Fifth Amendment multiple times during a congressional hearing.</p>
<p>Republicans reported in a <a href="https://cha.house.gov/press-releases?id=5C7C555B-84B7-4F21-81B6-676CD1E429AA" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">recent committee report</a> that ActBlue’s previous passport-number check only verified the character count rather than the validity of the passport number, raising concerns about potential loopholes for foreign donations.</p>
<p>The new process, detailed in an email to committee staffers, requires donors with foreign addresses to provide a passport image, identifying information, and a photograph taken during verification. The checks will utilize Stripe Identity, as stated in ActBlue’s updated privacy policy.</p>
<p>However, the changes do not address Republicans’ concerns regarding contributions processed under the previous rules and whether those safeguards matched Wallace-Jones’s descriptions to Congress.</p>
<p>ActBlue defended its practices, describing the program as an improvement. The organization stated, “In 2025, amid unprecedented attacks from President Trump and his allies, our organization took the proactive step of temporarily suspending all contributions from outside the United States.”</p>
<p>ActBlue asserted that it had “further enhanced its verification process” and maintained that it “accurately described” its procedures to Congress.</p>
<p>Jordan mentioned that investigators are considering additional depositions and seeking a letter from Dana Remus, a former Biden White House counsel who later advised ActBlue. A previous <em>New York Times</em> report cited by the committee indicated that Remus raised concerns about foreign contributions and Wallace-Jones’s assurances to Congress, suggesting that ActBlue’s acceptance of illegal foreign contributions appeared to be <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/02/us/politics/actblue-democrat-fundraising-foreign-donations.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">‘knowing and willful,'</a> according to a press release from Jordan’s office.</p>
<p>“We would love to get our hands on a copy of that actual letter,” Jordan told the <em>Washington Examiner</em>. ActBlue did not respond when asked if it would provide a public copy of Remus’s letter.</p>
<p>Additionally, the <em>Washington Examiner</em> previously reported that Jordan and fellow committee Chairmen Bryan Steil (R-WI) and James Comer (R-KY) requested testimony from Ronald Machen, a partner at WilmerHale, whose review supported ActBlue’s practices.</p>
<p>Republicans argued that procedures allowing placeholder entries in the passport field undermined that defense. ActBlue stated that its review found that 99.99% of nearly $990 million in 2023 political contributions came from donors providing a U.S. address or passport number.</p>
<p>While this finding addressed the nature of the information provided by donors, the verification process remains unclear.</p>
<p>Wallace-Jones previously stated that invoking the Fifth Amendment was not an admission of wrongdoing. ActBlue has denied any wrongdoing and rejected claims of establishing illegal contributions.</p>
<p>The committee has requested a transcribed interview with Machen to be <a href="https://judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/2026-09-28-jdj-bs-jc-to-machen-re-ti-request.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">scheduled</a> by October 12, indicating that his interview could occur later this month or next month, according to a letter from the committee dated September 28.</p>