ActBlue board member Kimberly Peeler-Allen invoked her Fifth Amendment right during a House probe into alleged foreign donations to the platform.
Page A3From§Eachthe supper edition — 1 September 2026
Democratic leaders blindsided as two members bail out Johnson, ActBlue leader pleads Fifth
Democratic leaders were caught off guard as two members supported Speaker Johnson, while an ActBlue leader invoked the Fifth during a House probe over alleged foreign donations. The receipts show two breaks: party lines crossed, and silence at the inquiry. The connection is the missing unity, and the stakes are the party's credibility both in the chamber and in fundraising. The ledger reads: votes that flip, donations that disappear, and a leadership that learns about them after the fact. The punchline is the fold: support and silence, one after the other.
“Democratic leaders got hit from both sides: their own bailed out the right, and ActBlue's leader took the Fifth. That's not unity, that's a handshake behind the curtain. The cost is paid in votes and donations that vanish before you see the receipt.”
“Party discipline is complicated. Sometimes members reach across the aisle; that's bipartisanship—wait, two members bailed out Johnson? Well, that's just democracy in action. As for ActBlue's leader pleading the Fifth, that's just due process. Nothing to see here.”
The receipts
House Democratic leaders were blindsided by the two rank-and-file members who crossed the aisle on Tuesday to help Republicans advance a series of GOP messaging bills heading into the midterm elections. Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), the Democratic whip, said she received no advance notice from either Rep.
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front.