ActBlue board member Kimberly Peeler-Allen invoked the Fifth Amendment before House investigators, becoming the third figure tied to the Democratic fundraising giant to refuse answers in the foreign donations probe.
Kimberly Peeler-Allen, a board member of Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue, pleaded the Fifth Amendment on Tuesday during testimony before House investigators, becoming the third ActBlue-linked figure to refuse to answer questions in the probe into alleged foreign donations. Her appearance came before the joint House Administration, Judiciary, and Oversight Committees investigation into claims that ActBlue accepted illicit foreign contributions and failed to prevent fraud. The committees are examining whether foreign money slipped into American elections through the platform, which has funneled roughly $20 billion into Democratic campaigns and causes since its founding.
Peeler-Allen's decision mirrors the approach taken by ActBlue CEO Regina Wallace-Jones, who invoked her Fifth Amendment right during a June hearing before the House Administration Committee, and co-founder Matt DeBergalis, who did the same during a closed-door deposition on Aug. 20. Sources familiar with the testimony said Peeler-Allen's appearance on Capitol Hill came amid the same three-committee investigation.
House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil, R-Wis., did not hide his frustration with the pattern of refusals. "I've been frustrated, that individuals [in] ActBlue haven't answered our questions on the record," Steil said in an interview Tuesday. "They have a right to do that. And I understand why they did that. But I think the American people deserve to know exactly what's going on."
The committee first opened its probe into ActBlue in 2023, zeroing in on the platform's practice of not requiring a credit card CVV number for contributions -- a gap critics say opened the door to foreign and fraudulent donations. Steil has noted the stakes: an entity that has raised roughly $20 billion since its creation and moved that money into Democratic campaigns and causes.
The New York Times reported in April that ActBlue's own legal counsel advised the organization that a letter its CEO sent to House Republicans may have misled lawmakers, calling the response a substantial risk for the company. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has also sued the fundraising giant, alleging it accepted fraudulent and foreign donations.
Democrats have accused Republicans of running a political hit job ahead of the midterms, but Steil rejected that framing. "This investigation began as a review of online fundraising platforms and a determination whether or not those platforms had fraud prevention programs in place to prevent foreign funds from coming into U.S. elections," he said. "One of those, ActBlue, has been called out by The New York Times for having misled or lied to Congress. We're trying to get to the bottom of that."
GOP lawmakers have already introduced legislation to tighten election donation rules in response to the ActBlue scrutiny, including proposals to require stronger identity and fraud verification on online contribution platforms.
The investigation shows no sign of slowing. With the primary fundraising vehicle for the Democratic Party under a microscope and its top executives and board members declining to answer on the record, the committees are pressing forward with witness testimony and document demands. The probe hands Republicans a powerful election-integrity argument heading into November, and the legislative push to close the donation loopholes is expected to continue regardless of how the investigation unfolds.
For now, the Fifth Amendment count keeps climbing -- and the questions keep piling up.
ActBlue board member Kimberly Peeler-Allen invoked the Fifth Amendment before House investigators, becoming the third figure tied to the Democratic fundraising giant to refuse answers in the foreign donations probe.
freedomlinedispatch.com
