ActBlue, a massive online platform that raises money for liberal causes, informed Congress recently that it didn’t automatically block donations with gift cards purchased abroad. This could be a significant revelation as part of an ongoing investigation to determine whether China, Russia or Venezuela sent illicit funds to Democrat candidates.

House Administration Chairman Bryan Steil (R-Wis. ), whose panel oversees electoral integrity, said to Just the News Tuesday that ActBlue had turned over documents to Just the News under subpoena, showing a significant change to its donor verification policy in September, designed to prevent illicit money from flowing into political campaign.

ActBlue announced that on September 9, it updated its policy to “automatically refuse donations that use domestic gift cards or foreign prepaid/gift card, that are from high-risk/sanctioned nations, and that have the highest risk level as determined” by Sift, its solution provider.

This change was made just three days after Steil, on Sept. 6, introduced the Secure Handling of Internet Electronic Donations Act (SHIELD), to make sure foreign money did not enter online political fundraising. Steil stated that donations with foreign gift cards weren’t automatically rejected by ActBlue prior to the change.

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Steil said to Just the News that “while this is a step in the right direction, more work needs to be done” to protect our campaign finance system from fraud and foreign interference. The documents that were provided to the Committee confirm ActBlue’s acceptance of these payment methods during July, when Democrats raised record amounts of campaign funds before these safeguards were implemented.

Steil revealed earlier this fall that his Committee is investigating whether ActBlue was used by four foreign powers – China, Russia Venezuela and Iran – to funnel illicit foreign money into Democrat bank accounts.

The committee reported thousands of suspicious contributions to the state attorneys generals in five states, resulting in an investigation that now extends to 19 states.

A Wisconsin Republican strategist also filed a suit in October, alleging that his email was used to make Democrat or liberal donations he didn’t authorize or pay. A judge recently approved a subpoena requiring ActBlue to reveal certain evidence.

Steil, as well as the chairman of the House Oversight Committee James Comer, have asked to see reports on suspicious activity filed by banks that flag certain money flowing through Act Blue. Comer has recently informed lawmakers that there may be hundreds of such reports.

ActBlue has denied all wrongdoing, but it says that it is cooperating in the investigations. ActBlue claims to have raised over $2 billion since 2004 in small online donations for Democrat or liberal causes.

ActBlue, in a statement to its users on their website, said that it had been the victim of “disinformation”. It was also committed to following the law and protecting the privacy of donors.

It said: “We protect donor information rigorously by maintaining a robust program and strict measures to prevent fraud – often exceeding what is required by the law.” ActBlue adheres to the highest ethical and legal standards. All contributions received through ActBlue comply with all federal, state and local laws.

Steil stated that while it is important to get to the bottom of foreign funds flowing through ActBlue, he is also focused on enduring a new legislation that closes any loopholes which allowed bad actors cheating on political fund-raising.

He said: “We need to continue working so that foreign funds are not illegally channeled into U.S. campaigns this election cycle.” It is important that we implement lasting reforms in order to prevent illegal contributions during future elections.

He added that “advancing legislation such as the SHIELD act will permanently close these loopholes, and safeguard the integrity our campaign finance system.”