House Republicans issue contempt threat against ActBlue after Dem fundraiser refuses to turn over hundreds of documents

The leaders of three Republican House committees threatened Monday to hold Democratic fundraising powerhouse ActBlue in contempt of Congress after the firm refused to turn over more than 400 documents, citing attorney-client privilege.A letter from House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil (R-Wis.), Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), and Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) gave ActBlue until Friday to provide the messages, including statements by two members of its legal team indicating the fundraiser was not being forthcoming about overseas donations that were illegally funneled to Democratic campaigns.“These documents reportedly contain evidence that ActBlue accepted foreign donations, misled Congress, and then retaliated against an employee who spoke up about it,” the lawmakers wrote.“ActBlue appears to be withholding these documents from the Committees in an attempt to cover up the scope and duration of its misconduct.”ActBlue interim general counsel Aaron Ting resigned his post in February 2025 following a call involving ActBlue leadership and outside counsel, warning the fundraiser was “not fully committed to transparently addressing with the Board the seriousness of our most pressing concerns: the legal compliance of ActBlue’s past practices for screening political donations from abroad and its past representations to Congress regarding foreign donations and related matters.”Days later, ActBlue’s lone full-time lawyer, Zain Ahmad, claimed in an internal Slack message that “he was retaliated against for blowing the whistle on internal misconduct,” according to the lawmakers.The drama involving Ting and Ahmad was first reported in April by the New York Times.“On June 5, ActBlue belatedly produced a log of responsive materials that it deemed privileged, but refused to produce Mr.

Ting’s resignation letter or Mr.Ahmad’s message.

Instead, ActBlue claimed attorney-client privilege over the entirety o...