The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability said a whistleblower claimed Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) subpoenaed “Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for intelligence reports, documents, and communications” related to the alleged connection.
“According to recently received whistleblower disclosures, we’ve learned of a non-classified, Microsoft Teams group chat among DHS employees and additional intelligence reports that contain information regarding a longstanding connection between the CCP and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz,” the committee wrote.
“Specifically, through whistleblower disclosures, we’ve learned of a non-classified, Microsoft Teams group chat among DHS employees—titled ‘NST NFT Bi-Weekly Sync’—that contains information about Governor Walz that is relevant to our investigation. We’ve also learned that further relevant information regarding Governor Walz has been memorialized in both classified and unclassified documents in the control of DHS,” it added.
🚨BREAKING: Chairman Comer Is Subpoenaing DHS After Whistleblower Reveals Information on Governor Walz’s Ties to the CCP
According to recently received whistleblower disclosures, we’ve learned of a non-classified, Microsoft Teams group chat among DHS employees and additional… pic.twitter.com/VRuXBbf2dR
— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) September 30, 2024
A closer look:
“The Committee’s investigation of the CCP—begun long before Governor Walz was elevated to be the vice-presidential candidate for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris—seeks to understand the extent of the CCP’s infiltration and influence campaign and to identify legislative reforms to combat CCP political warfare targeting prominent Americans for elite capture. If a state governor and major political party’s nominee for Vice President of the United States has been a witting or unwitting participant in the CCP’s efforts to weaken our nation, this would strongly suggest that there are alarming weaknesses in the federal government’s effort to defend the United States from the CCP’s political warfare that must be urgently addressed. The information required of DHS by the Committee’s subpoena will inform the Committee’s understanding of how successful the CCP has been in waging political warfare in and against the United States, how effectively federal agencies are addressing the communist regime’s campaign, and what reforms are necessary to counter this threat,” Comer wrote.
From the Oversight Committee:
The Oversight Committee has been conducting a government-wide investigation of how federal agencies are addressing the CCP’s infiltration and influence campaign to weaken and corrupt the United States. During briefings held with over twenty federal agencies, the Committee has learned of the CCP’s efforts to influence subnational government leaders, including state governors. In August, Chairman Comer launched an investigation into Governor Walz following reports detailing the Governor’s longstanding connections to CCP entities and officials.
🚨Breaking News: Whistleblower has informed GOP Oversight Committee about U.S. intelligence that has discovered confirmed links between the Chinese Communist Party and Tim Walz pic.twitter.com/m4oZEVJaq9
— The Calvin Coolidge Project (@TheCalvinCooli1) September 30, 2024
The New York Post reports:
Comer demanded all records on the internal group chat between July 1 and the present, as well as any Intelligence Information Reports or Regional Intelligence Notes between November 2023 and the present.
“[I]f a state governor and major political party’s nominee for Vice President of the United States has been a witting or unwitting participant in the CCP’s efforts to weaken our nation, this would strongly suggest that there are alarming weaknesses in the federal government’s effort to defend the United States from the CCP’s political warfare that must be urgently addressed,” he told Mayorkas.
The subpoena comes as officials at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence warned in a briefing earlier this month that China’s election interference efforts have been focused on state and local government officials.
This year, the Oversight Committee ramped up an investigation into the federal government’s response to broadening CCP influence to “weaken and corrupt” the US.
It began targeting Walz’s “cozy” relationship with China by making a records request of the FBI just before the Minnesota governor and former US House lawmaker became the Democratic vice presidential nominee.
The FBI never responded to the request.
Rep. Jim Banks, a Navy Reserve officer and member of the House Armed Services Committee, also separately asked for information from the Pentagon about 30 trips Walz had made to China, a dozen of which occurred while he was a member of the US military between 1989 and 2005.
Earlier this month, Comer penned a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray, requesting information regarding any ties between Gov. Walz and CCP-affiliated entities.