House Republicans subpoenaed records from a prominent left-wing fundraising platform on Wednesday as part of their ongoing probe into alleged foreign election interference.
“We cannot allow foreign actors to influence our elections through campaign financing,” said Wisconsin Rep. Bryan Steil, chair of the Committee on House Administration. “Preventing foreign interference in U.S. elections has been my top priority as Chairman and this next step in our investigation is crucial to achieving that goal.”
According to a letter accompanying the subpoena issued to ActBlue CEO Regina Wallace-Jones, Steil is demanding the Democrat-aligned fundraising platform forfeit “documents and communications related to ActBlue’s donor verification policies and the potential for foreign actors, primarily from Iran, Russia, Venezuela, and China, to use ActBlue to launder illicit money into U.S. political campaigns.” The House Admin Committee and several states attorneys general have been investigating these possibilities for the past several months.
Steil referenced a communique sent to ActBlue on Monday, in which he expressed concerns that foreign “actors may be exploiting existing U.S. donors by making straw donations without the individuals’ or your platform’s knowledge.” The letter was issued nearly two weeks after Steil and Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., requested a classified briefing from several federal agencies about “potential election interference through fraudulent donations by foreign actors.”
[READ: Democrats’ Fundraising Machine Draws Accusations Of ‘Potentially Illegal’ Schemes]
As noted by Steil, the House Admin Committee probed ActBlue in October 2023 about how the platform “prevents contributions from foreign sources, and whether it requires the card verification value (‘CVV’) associated with the credit or debit card used by the contributor when making an online contribution.” In her response, Wallace-Jones confirmed this to be the case, although ActBlue reportedly said earlier this year it changed its policy to now require “‘CVV’ codes for donations on their platform,” according to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Last month, Steil introduced the “Secure Handling of Internet Electronic Donations Act” (“SHIELD Act”), which, as described in his Wednesday letter, seeks to “prohibit political committees from accepting online contributions from debit or credit cards without the disclosure of the card verification value (‘CVV’) and billing address associated with the card.” The measure would further bar political committees from accepting contributions via prepaid gift cards and prevent “individuals from knowingly aiding or abetting someone who makes a contribution in the name of another person.”
The House Admin Committee passed the bill by voice vote on Sept. 11.
Steil has requested ActBlue to comply with the committee’s subpoena by Nov. 6.
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