House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman James Comer, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, and House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil have issued subpoenas to two senior employees of ActBlue. The subpoenas compel Alyssa Twomey, ActBlue's Former Vice President of Customer Service, and an unnamed Senior Workflow Specialist to appear for depositions. This action follows allegations that online fundraising platforms, including ActBlue, have accepted fraudulent donations from both domestic and foreign sources.
The decision to issue subpoenas comes after the employees did not comply with voluntary requests from the Committees. Documents provided to the Committees suggest that while serving as Vice President of Customer Service, Twomey managed ActBlue’s fraud-prevention team. The Committees claim there is significant evidence indicating that ActBlue had "a fundamentally unserious approach to fraud prevention" during her tenure.
It was found that in 2024, ActBlue weakened its fraud-prevention standards twice despite being aware of significant attempted fraud on the platform, including attempts by foreign actors. Furthermore, a training guide for new fraud-prevention staff reportedly instructed employees to "look for reasons to accept contributions" rather than scrutinize potentially fraudulent donations critically.
Additional internal documents reveal that top fraud-prevention staff at ActBlue identified several ways in which bad actors could bypass their systems and make illicit donations. The Committees aim to gather more information about these instances as part of their legislative process regarding online fundraising platforms.
The full subpoena cover letters addressed to Alyssa Twomey and the Senior Workflow Specialist are available for public viewing.
