ActBlue chief heads to Capitol Hill hot seat as donor fraud probe intensifies

The embattled head of a Democratic fundraising powerhouse is slated to face a grilling by House lawmakers as questions swirl about whether the group misled Congress about alleged donor fraud.

ActBlue CEO Regina Wallace-Jones will testify before the House Administration Committee in a potentially explosive hearing Wednesday, as a years-long congressional probe into how the payment processor vets overseas donors comes to a head.

Wallace-Jones’ testimony will be the first time she has publicly addressed the fraud allegations. Hours before the hearing was scheduled to begin, Wallace-Jones announced she would invoke her right against self-incrimination when questioned by lawmakers, in an op-ed for The Washington Post.

Representatives for ActBlue have repeatedly denied making false statements to Congress and have argued the Republican-led probe is politically motivated. 

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Earlier this week, an attorney for Wallace-Jones requested that House Committee Chairman Bryan Steil, R-Wis., issue a subpoena for her testimony ahead of Wednesday’s hearing — weeks after she voluntarily agreed in May to appear before the committee on June 10.

After Republicans promptly moved to subpoena Wallace-Jones, a source familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital that she planned to attend Wednesday’s hearing.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., who have been involved with the ActBlue probe, are also expected to be waved onto the committee to question Wallace-Jones.

Steil framed the hearing as part of a broader effort to prevent foreign money from entering the political sphere.

"The goal of this investigation remains the same: to ensure that federal law effectively stops bad actors, including foreign actors, from making political donations to American candidates and campaigns through online fundraising platforms," Steil wrote in a letter to Wallace-Jones Wednesday, accompanying the subpoena request reviewed by Fox News Digital.

The House Administration Committee has scrutinized ActBlue since 2023 over the payment processor’s fraud prevention practices and its processing of overseas donations that may have been routed into U.S. elections. 

Nonresident foreign nationals are generally prohibited from making political contributions to federal and state candidates, candidate committees and political action committees.

Wednesday’s hearing comes after Republicans accelerated their scrutiny of ActBlue, following a story in The New York Times earlier this year reporting that the group’s former outside counsel warned Wallace-Jones that she may have made false statements to Steil’s panel about its fraud screening practices. The attorneys found that some of the anti-fraud measures described to congressional investigators were not always followed as outlined, according to the report. 

ActBlue did not immediately correct the record with the House Administration Committee, despite internally updating donor screening practices, the Times reported. The payment processor later acknowledged that certain fraud prevention practices had been strengthened in a June 2025 letter to Steil’s committee. 

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Republicans have argued that the discrepancy between ActBlue's statements to Congress and its internal practices was likely "an attempt to avoid negative attention," as Steil wrote in a letter Tuesday to Wallace-Jones.

Steil has sharply criticized ActBlue personnel for refusing to fully cooperate with the committee’s probe. Five current and former ActBlue employees asserted their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination a combined 146 times when their testimony was subpoenaed by the committee.

The GOP-led panel has also expanded its ActBlue investigation beyond Wallace-Jones.

Steil requested earlier in June that five members of ActBlue’s Board of Directors sit for transcribed interviews to discuss their involvement in the group’s response to congressional scrutiny and how it addressed a wave of departures within the organization amid internal turmoil over whether Wallace-Jones misled Congress.

Two unions affiliated with ActBlue warned the board about a "growing pattern of volatility and toxicity" among leadership, including alleged retaliation against a whistleblower, the Times reported.

Steil’s panel has also requested a swath of documents from ActBlue board members. The targeted individuals have until June 16 to comply, according to a letter previously obtained by Fox News Digital.

Fox News Digital reached out to ActBlue for comment before publication.