Staff Reports
Matt DeBergalis, co‑founder of ActBlue, walked into a closed‑door deposition on August 20 and walked out after about 25 minutes. He invoked the Fifth Amendment instead of answering lawmakers’ questions. That short silence was not an accident — it is the latest chapter in a pattern of refusal by the Democratic Party’s main small‑donor platform to explain how foreign money reached American political campaigns.
ActBlue co‑founder pleads the Fifth — and the pattern grows
The deposition on August 20 was before three Republican‑led House panels: the House Judiciary Committee (Chairman Jim Jordan), the House Administration Committee (Chairman Bryan Steil), and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee (Chairman James Comer). DeBergalis declined to answer substantive questions. This follows ActBlue CEO Regina Wallace‑Jones invoking the Fifth at a public hearing in June, and five current or former employees asserting the same right a combined 146 times. When your fundraising machine goes quiet under oath, it’s not transparency — it’s a very loud silence.
Red flags inside the platform
House investigators and internal memoranda put meat on that silence. Outside counsel warned ActBlue there was “a substantial risk” that foreign donations slipped through and that conduct could be “knowing and willful.” Committee materials flag operational red lights: a 30‑day window with dozens of donations from foreign IP addresses using domestic prepaid cards, board acknowledgments that roughly $38 million showed signs of foreign origin, and reports that compliance staff left or were sidelined after 2024. ActBlue says it has added fraud controls and denies knowingly taking illegal money. Fine — but denials don’t answer sworn questions.
Why “knowing and willful” matters
“Knowing and willful” is not lawyerly fluff. Under campaign‑finance law, that standard can expose an organization to criminal prosecution by the Justice Department. That is why the wording from Covington & Burling’s memos and the committee findings are not just political theater. A presidential memorandum and ongoing probes have already put the matter on the federal radar. Invoking the Fifth is a constitutional right — yet when it shows up in series, from CEO to co‑founder to multiple staffers, it becomes a political and legal alarm bell, not a get‑out‑of‑questions card.
Political fallout and what comes next
The Democrats who once thundered “no one is above the law” when the defendant was someone else now face a simple public test: will they demand answers from their own money machine or look the other way? Republicans will keep pushing subpoenas, seek deposition transcripts, and press contempt if documents and testimony stay sealed. The Justice Department could decide to act if investigators find evidence that fits the “knowing and willful” standard. Voters are watching, and silence under oath is a message by itself.
Accountability is supposed to be blind, but it tends to show up first where people still answer questions. ActBlue’s pattern of silence, the Covington warnings, and the reported operational gaps are the story here. Lawmakers should stop treating checks and op‑eds as substitutes for testimony, and ActBlue should stop hiding behind constitutional rights when answers are due. If America’s elections are to stay free and decided by Americans alone, someone has to explain where the money came from — and soon.
