Regina Wallace-Jones is the president and chief executive of ActBlue.
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.
Congress and the Justice Department are coordinating to target people and organizations that the president opposes. Consider DOJ’s probe of former Fed chair Jerome H. Powell, a longtime target of Trump’s who was investigated in connection with his congressional testimony on the Fed’s office renovations. Former FBI director James Comey was charged with making false statements in his congressional testimony — charges that were later thrown out. The list goes on.
It is obvious that ActBlue will be treated the same way. This is a proceeding designed to build an illegitimate criminal case against us. I cannot and will not let my words be misused in that way.
These attacks are part of a much bigger trend of retaliation and retribution. It was universities. It was law firms. Then civil rights organizations. Now it is a platform that helps people participate in democracy. If those behind this scheme succeed, they will go further — against other causes, other service providers, other candidates and ordinary American citizens whose only offense is disagreeing with this administration.
That is why ActBlue will fight back with every lawful tool available. In April, we filed a federal lawsuit against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for abusing the power of his office to violate ActBlue’s constitutional rights. We will continue to fight for our rights, and support the thousands of candidates and causes who use ActBlue to power their campaigns. That fight continues today.
The right to remain silent was not written for the innocent in easy circumstances. It was written for moments exactly like this one — when Congress and the Justice Department work in coordination to tear down their political opponents rather than find facts, when committees refuse to recognize fundamental legal protections, and when answering questions freely means handing ammunition to people who are acting in bad faith.
I lead an organization that processed $3.5 billion in contributions in 2024, with an average donation amount of $50 or less — many from first-time donors who simply wanted a voice. I owe it to every single one of them to fight back. The Fifth Amendment is the right tool for this moment. It is a bedrock American tool, built for when power overreaches.
Today, I will use it.
The post Why I will use my Fifth Amendment rights before Congress today appeared first on Washington Post.
