Congressional committees released new internal records Thursday alleging that ActBlue, a major fundraising platform for Democratic campaigns, failed to prevent foreign donations from entering U.S. elections and instructed staff to overlook red flags in contributions.

The findings intensify scrutiny of ActBlue's compliance with federal laws barring foreign contributions, as lawmakers probe whether the platform's controls were sufficient to protect election integrity.

The House Administration, Judiciary, and Oversight committees published their third interim report, citing internal ActBlue documents that describe a "toothless" passport verification process and instructions to fraud prevention staff to "give the donor the benefit of the doubt" even when donations showed signs of foreign origin. The committees' investigation began after the 2024 presidential election, amid record fundraising for then-Vice President Kamala Harris's campaign, and has focused on whether ActBlue's systems allowed unlawful contributions from abroad.

Internal Records and Committee Findings

According to the committees' report, ActBlue's passport verification system did not require a valid U.S. passport number and failed to check donor information against government databases. Instead, staff were told to accept any string of numbers as a passport number and to find "alternative" ways to verify citizenship if a donor lacked a passport. In one case, a donation was accepted based on a decades-old foreign identity card and a birth certificate, without a U.S. passport.

Supervisors reportedly instructed staff to process donations despite multiple red flags, including mismatched IP addresses, foreign credit cards, and questionable email domains. One supervisor wrote that a donor appeared to be from Canada but used a Missouri billing address, and recommended accepting the contribution because the donor had an active Twitter account. The committees also found that ActBlue accepted donations using prepaid cards, despite an internal ban on such contributions before the 2024 election.

"I wish I could say that [the new records] surprise me, but in many ways this is almost what you expect. I have been engaged in this investigation now for three years and what we continue to realize is that ActBlue has not been taking fraud seriously."

— Rep. Bryan Steil, chairman, House Administration Committee

The report asserts that ActBlue's use of the AI system Sift resulted in the acceptance of 99.8 percent of contributions reviewed, with less than 0.1 percent rejected for suspected fraud. The committees allege that these practices allowed foreign actors to bypass controls and contribute to U.S. campaigns in violation of federal law.

ActBlue CEO Regina Wallace-Jones appeared before the House Administration Committee in June but repeatedly invoked her Fifth Amendment right, refusing to answer questions about the platform's fraud prevention measures and the accuracy of her prior statements to Congress, according to the committee's press release.

Chairman Bryan Steil pressed Wallace-Jones on whether her previous written testimony to the committee was false or misleading, but she declined to respond. Committee members also cited a report that ActBlue accepted up to $38 million in contributions in 2024 that showed signs of foreign origin, but Wallace-Jones again declined to answer.

The congressional report states that Wallace-Jones's refusal to address the allegations led to the departure of ActBlue's entire internal legal and compliance team, including former Interim General Counsel Aaron Ting. Zain Ahmad, reportedly the last remaining lawyer, warned of "credible allegations of misconduct" and was subsequently locked out of his accounts, with some of his internal messages deleted by human resources.

ActBlue’s Response and Ongoing Investigations

ActBlue has denied any wrongdoing, stating in an April letter that claims of impeding the congressional investigation are "baseless." The platform maintains it has cooperated with oversight requests and insists that a recent report from its legal counsel clears it of misconduct. Wallace-Jones has characterized the investigations by Congress and the Department of Justice as politically motivated.

“We must continue to stand against all efforts to undermine the grassroots infrastructure that powers the Democratic Party,” Wallace-Jones said in a statement to The Washington Post, as cited in the report.

The White House has also highlighted ongoing efforts to investigate unlawful straw donor and foreign contributions in American elections, as detailed in a presidential action.

Chairman Steil said the House investigation will continue, stating, “Everything remains on the table. I am convinced we need to make sure we are making real progress.”