ActBlue Co-Founder Pleads Fifth Before House Panels

ActBlue has repeatedly denied violating the law, rejected claims that it knowingly accepted illegal foreign contributions, and called the investigations politically motivated. In an April letter to the committee chairmen, ActBlue lawyer Vincent Cohen wrote that the organization has "built a robust platform with anti-fraud technology."

After the April report on the 146 invocations, an ActBlue spokesman told the New York Post: "The Fifth Amendment is one of America's most foundational constitutional rights." The spokesman added that "ActBlue employees who invoked their rights in the face of a partisan investigation are doing exactly what the Founders intended," and warned that letting Republicans "trample on our protected rights" would "only empower them to attack more organizations and individuals they disagree with."

Neither ActBlue nor counsel for DeBergalis had issued a public statement specifically on Thursday's deposition in any of the accounts published so far.

Republicans read the silence the other way. "What is ActBlue hiding?" Rep. Eli Crane, an Arizona Republican, posted on X on Thursday afternoon.

At the June hearing, House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan pressed Wallace-Jones: "Your board chairman said ActBlue accepted up to $38 million in contributions in 2024 that had the signs of foreign origin. How much fraud is too much for all?" She invoked the Fifth.

Democrats and their allies have characterized the inquiry as a partisan effort to damage the party's fundraising machinery before the midterms. Republicans say they are trying to establish whether foreign or fraudulent money entered federal campaigns and whether ActBlue described its safeguards to Congress accurately.