{"id":1618,"date":"2026-08-21T10:27:18","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T10:27:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1618"},"modified":"2026-08-21T10:27:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T10:27:18","slug":"actblue-co-founder-pleads-fifth-in-house-investigation-into-foreign-donations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1618","title":{"rendered":"ActBlue Co-Founder Pleads Fifth in House Investigation Into Foreign Donations"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>ActBlue co-founder Matt DeBergalis invoked his Fifth Amendment rights Thursday during a congressional deposition examining whether the Democratic fundraising platform\u2019s fraud safeguards allowed illegal foreign donations to enter U.S. elections.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1616\">First U.S. Deportees Arrive in Liberia Under Trump Administration Agreement<\/a><\/p>\n<p>DeBergalis appeared behind closed doors before investigators from the House Administration, Oversight and Judiciary committees. The deposition lasted less than 30 minutes, according to Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n<p>The three Republican-led committees are jointly investigating ActBlue, a major fundraising platform that has processed billions of dollars for Democratic candidates and liberal organizations.<\/p>\n<p>Invoking the Fifth Amendment is a constitutional right and does not establish wrongdoing. ActBlue has repeatedly denied violating campaign finance laws.<\/p>\n<p>The House Administration Committee opened its investigation in 2023 amid concerns about ActBlue\u2019s fraud-prevention practices. Chairman Bryan Steil, R-Wis., questioned why the platform had not required donors to provide credit card verification value, or CVV, numbers, a common security measure for online transactions.<\/p>\n<p>ActBlue subsequently began requiring CVV numbers.<\/p>\n<p>An April 2025 report from the committees alleged that ActBlue employees knew \u201cboth foreign and domestic fraudulent actors are exploiting the platform\u201d but failed to adequately address the threat.<\/p>\n<p>ActBlue\u2019s current CEO also invoked the Fifth Amendment during a congressional hearing earlier this year.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1614\">UK Government Gives Asylum Seekers Guide Explaining Rape, Age of Consent, Women\u2019s Rights<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Steil said questions remain about whether the organization has implemented sufficient safeguards to prevent foreign money from entering American political campaigns.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s unclear how serious ActBlue is now taking fraud,\u201d Steil told Fox News. \u201cDid they make the changes that are needed to root out foreign funds from coming into U.S. Elections?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>ActBlue is widely used across the Democratic Party, including by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.<\/p>\n<p>Steil said the platform\u2019s enormous role in Democratic fundraising makes transparency particularly important.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey have a right to not answer our questions, but I think the American people also have a rights to know exactly what\u2019s taking place on this platform that has raised roughly $20 billion for Democratic candidates and liberal causes since its creation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The investigation is part of a Republican effort to determine whether weaknesses in online political fundraising systems have allowed foreign or fraudulent contributions to influence U.S. elections.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1612\">Morning Greatness: State Department Imposes New Sanctions on Cuba<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ActBlue co-founder Matt DeBergalis invoked his Fifth Amendment rights Thursday during a congressional deposition examining whether the Democratic fundraising\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1617,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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