When House lawmakers finally got their chance to question ActBlue CEO Regina Wallace-Jones this week about allegations involving foreign donations and fundraising practices, they got roughly the same answer over and over again.
The Fifth Amendment. She invoked it 22 times.
Wallace-Jones repeatedly declined to answer questions during a House Administration Committee hearing [1] Wednesday, invoking her constitutional right against self- incrimination as Republicans pressed her about ActBlue’s donor verification procedures and allegations that illegal foreign contributions may have flowed through the Democratic fundraising giant.
The hearing was supposed to shed light on concerns raised by congressional investigators who claim ActBlue weakened fraud-prevention safeguards and failed to fully cooperate with document requests.
The hearing comes as the U.S. Department of Justice investigates allegations that foreign nationals and other prohibited donors may have used ActBlue’s fundraising platform to make illegal political contributions.
ActBlue insists the investigation is politically motivated and says they maintain strong security measures.
In the end, Congress came looking for answers about ActBlue’s fundraising practices and left with a transcript full of unanswered questions. The only thing Wallace-Jones appeared willing to contribute consistently was the phrase, “I respectfully decline to answer.”