General Discussion

Silence in response to bad-faith action is not retreat — it is a bedrock American right.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/06/10/actblue-ceo-why-i-will-invoke-my-5th-amendment-rights-before-congress/

https://archive.ph/lpmWn


I am not going to Congress looking for a fight. And yet, when I testify today before members of the House, I will invoke my Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination. Invoking the Fifth Amendment is not an admission, or even an insinuation, of guilt. It is not a retreat. It is the only reasonable response to a proceeding that from the beginning has been about harassing a political opponent’s fundraising platform, not genuine oversight. Now it has become something far more dangerous.

Over the past two decades, the group I lead — ActBlue — emerged as the leading fundraising platform for the Democratic Party. We serve millions of small-dollar donors, and support more candidates and causes than any other organization in the country. For more than three years, ActBlue has worked in good faith with the investigation by congressional Republicans, produced thousands of pages of materials and answered dozens of questions. The investigation purports to be in support of legislative proposals to protect American elections. I want to be clear: ActBlue has consistently supported legislative proposals to secure campaign fundraising and ensure that everyone is playing by the same rules. We endorsed the GOP’s proposed Secure Handling of Internet Electronic Donations Act in 2024, and we have already implemented key provisions of the proposed Campaign Finance Transparency Act, which was introduced last month and voted out of the House Administration Committee with bipartisan support.

However, this investigation isn’t really about advancing legislative proposals. If it were, today’s hearing would include the Republican fundraising platform WinRed. This blatant hypocrisy must not be overlooked. In April 2025, President Donald Trump ordered the U.S. attorney general to target ActBlue — and cited the House’s investigation of the organization as a justification. Less than two weeks later, Republicans in Congress sent a letter to then-Attorney General Pam Bondi detailing their “ongoing investigation into ActBlue” while pledging to “work collaboratively with DOJ.” Bryan Steil (R-Wisconsin), the chairman of the House Administration Committee, which oversees election law, said publicly he was “working to make sure the Department of Justice has the information they need to move forward in their investigation.” Acting attorney general Todd Blanche recently said that investigating ActBlue is a priority of the department.
Again, this is not legitimate oversight. It’s a coordinated campaign of political retribution. Wednesday’s hearing is the latest assault in that corrupt campaign.

Congress has no constitutional authority to conduct criminal investigations. The Supreme Court has repeatedly made clear that this role belongs to the executive branch. When a congressional committee works with the Justice Department to target a political adversary, it is not legislating. It has crossed a red line that was drawn into the Constitution for a reason. The congressional committees investigating ActBlue have also made clear that they want to question me about communications protected by attorney-client privilege — confidential communications between ActBlue and its lawyers that play a critical role in our commitment to complying with the law. My legal team tried to find a workable path with the committee to avoid waiving privilege over these protected communications if I were to testify. However, the committee rejected every reasonable accommodation we offered.
I want to make clear what is actually happening, because the pattern is now transparent — and familiar.

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