Authored by AG News Staff via American Greatness,
Another senior figure at Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue invoked the Fifth Amendment during congressional testimony Tuesday as House Republicans investigate allegations of fraudulent and foreign political donations.
Kimberly Peeler-Allen, a member of ActBlue's board of directors, invoked her constitutional right against self-incrimination while appearing before the House Administration, Judiciary and Oversight committees, according to sources familiar with her testimony.
Kimberly Peeler-Allen, pictured second from the left, attending the 35th Annual Celebrating Women® Breakfast at New York Marriott Marquis Hotel on May 11, 2022, in New York City. Peeler-Allen pleaded the Fifth Amendment on Sept. 1, 2026, during a probe into Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue, for which she is a member of the board of directors. (Monica Schipper/Getty Images for The New York Women's Foundation)
Her decision follows similar moves by other ActBlue officials.
ActBlue co-founder Matt DeBergalis invoked the Fifth during a closed-door deposition Aug. 20, while CEO Regina Wallace-Jones asserted the same right during congressional questioning in June.
The House Administration Committee began investigating ActBlue in 2023 following concerns that the fundraising platform's fraud-prevention procedures were inadequate to prevent illegal foreign donations.
Committee Chairman Bryan Steil, R-Wis., has focused in part on ActBlue's previous practice of not requiring donors to provide credit card CVV security codes.
"We have an entity here with ActBlue, that has raised roughly $20 billion since its creation," Steil told Fox News.
"We want to make sure that they have the fraud prevention protocols in place to make sure that foreign funds are not coming into U.S. elections."
Steil acknowledged that witnesses have a constitutional right to invoke the Fifth Amendment but said their refusal to answer questions has frustrated lawmakers seeking information about ActBlue's operations.
The investigation intensified after The New York Times reported in April that ActBlue's attorneys had warned internally that Wallace-Jones may have provided Congress with a misleading description of the organization's procedures for detecting foreign donations.
Wallace-Jones had described ActBlue's screening system as "multilayered." According to the Times, however, the organization's attorneys warned that ActBlue did not always follow the procedures she described, creating what they characterized as "a substantial risk for ActBlue."
Republicans have denied accusations that the investigation is politically motivated, arguing that foreign money entering American elections would present a serious threat regardless of which party benefits.
ActBlue has denied wrongdoing and has previously said it maintains safeguards against fraudulent and foreign contributions.