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Year: 2024

House Oversight investigating Walz over ‘longstanding connections’ to China

House Oversight investigating Walz over ‘longstanding connections’ to China

EXCLUSIVE: The House Oversight Committee is investigating Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, and his alleged “longstanding connections” to China and CCP-linked entities, Fox News Digital has learned.  Fox News Digital exclusively obtained a letter that House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., penned to FBI Director Christopher Wray, notifying the bureau of the committee’s investigation into Walz.  “The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is conducting a government-wide investigation into the Chinese Communist Party’s political warfare operations against America and the response from federal agencies,” he wrote. “Vice President Kamala Harris recently announced her vice presidential running mate, Timothy Walz, the current governor of Minnesota.”  WALZ BACKED ‘SANCTUARY’ POLICIES, SERVICES FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS AS GOVERNOR: ‘WIN FOR OPEN BORDERS’  Comer said that the committee had been briefed by the FBI on April 22 and July 17 — both briefings occurred before Walz was named Harris’ running mate.  However, Comer said that FBI briefers told the committee that the bureau’s Foreign Influence Task Force “investigates exactly the kind of activity that has since come to light about Governor Walz.”  Comer is now seeking information about the Chinese entities and officials Walz has “engaged and partnered with,” as well as any “warnings or advice the FBI may have given to Governor Walz about U.S. political figures being targeted by or recruited for CCP influence operations.”  Comer said Walz has “longstanding connections to CCP-connected entities and officials that make him susceptible” to the CCP’s strategy of “elite capture,” which seeks to co-opt influential figures in elite political, cultural and academic circles to “influence the United States to the benefit of the communist regime and the detriment of Americans.”  Comer pointed to reports of Walz’s “extensive engagement with CCP officials and entities while serving in public office,” saying it raises questions about “possible CCP influence in his decision-making as governor — and, should he be elected, as vice president.”  “Recent reporting reveals that Governor Walz has concerning ties to the People’s Republic of China,” Comer wrote. Comer pointed to reports that suggest that while Walz was a teacher in the early 1990s, he organized a trip to China for Alliance High School students, where the costs were reportedly “paid by the Chinese government.”   “In 1994, Mr. Walz set up a private company named ‘Educational Travel Adventures, Inc.,’ which coordinated annual student trips to the PRC until 2003, and was led by Mr. Walz himself,” Comer wrote, adding that the corporation was “reportedly dissolved four days after he took congressional office in 2007.”  KAMALA HARRIS’ RUNNING MATE TIM WALZ PICTURED IN 1995 NEBRASKA MUGSHOT AFTER DUI ARREST Comer also said Walz has traveled to China an estimated “30 times.”  “In its investigation, the Committee has highlighted the importance of U.S. officials being cognizant of CCP political and psychological warfare efforts that seek to threaten national security,” Comer wrote.  Comer then pointed to Walz’s time in Congress, noting he served as a fellow at the Macau Polytechnic University — a Chinese institution that characterizes itself as having a “long-held devotion to and love for the motherland.”  “At the time he disclosed serving as a Macau fellow, Mr. Walz also had significant credit card debt,” Comer wrote, noting that in 2019, Walz headlined the 27th National Convention for the U.S. China Peoples Friendship Association in Minnesota. “Governor Walz spoke alongside the president of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, which, a year later, the Department of State exposed as ‘a Beijing-based organization tasked with co-opting subnational governments,’ including efforts to ‘directly and malignly influence state and local leaders to promote the PRC’s global agenda,’” Comer wrote.  Comer said Walz himself has “admitted that he does not ‘fall into the category that China necessarily needs to be an adversarial relationship.’”  “Despite bipartisan efforts to identify and defeat CCP unrestricted warfare against America, Governor Walz continues problematic engagement with concerning entities and individuals,” Comer wrote.  Comer also pointed to a March 2024 meeting Walz had with Consul General Zhao Jian to discuss “China-U.S. relations and sub-national cooperation.” WALZ IN 2010 SAID PLAN TO CURB SOCIAL SECURITY, INCREASE RETIREMENT AGE WAS ‘VERY SIMILAR’ TO HIS APPROACH “Despite his knowledge and condemnation of communist China’s human rights violations, Governor Walz has said he ‘applaud[s] the accomplishments of the Chinese people and recognize[s] that some in the Chinese Government advocate for greater rule of law,’” Comer wrote.  Comer is now requesting that the FBI assist in the committee’s investigation by providing documents and information related to any Chinese entity or individual with whom Walz may have engaged or partnered.  Comer is also asking for any records between the FBI and Walz, or his gubernatorial office pertaining to warnings or guidance about subnational government officials engaging with the PRC, CCP and the CCP’s proxies.  Comer, in a statement to Fox News Digital, said “the CCP has sought to destroy the United States through coordinated influence and infiltration campaigns that target every aspect of American life, including our own elected officials.”  “Americans should be deeply concerned that Governor Walz, Kamala Harris’s vice-presidential running mate, has a longstanding and cozy relationship with China,” Comer said. “Mr. Walz has visited China dozens of times, served as a fellow at a Chinese institution that maintains a devotion to the CCP, and spoke alongside the President of a Chinese organization the State Department exposed as a CCP effort to influence and co-opt local leaders.”  Comer added, “FBI briefers recently informed the Committee that the Bureau’s Foreign Influence Task Force investigates CCP activity that is similar to China’s engagement with Governor Walz.”  “The American people deserve to fully understand how deep Governor Walz’s relationship with China goes,” Comer told Fox News Digital.  The Harris-Walz campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

RFK denies report that he asked for position in Harris cabinet

RFK denies report that he asked for position in Harris cabinet

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is denying reports that he sought a position in a hypothetical Democratic administration. Kennedy was accused this week of reaching out to Democratic presidential nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris’ team to discuss the possibility of working inside a future Cabinet — the claim appeared in a report from the Washington Post. “That’s fake news. I didn’t ask Kamala Harris for a Cabinet position but I’ve reached out to all the candidates. I’ve met with some,” Kennedy told guests during his “TikTok Town Hall” live-streamed event. BIDEN SAYS HARRIS ‘NOT GOING TO’ DISTANCE HERSELF FROM HIS ECONOMIC POLICIES The independent candidate claimed that he had met with all other candidates in the presidential election — specifically mentioning a meeting with Libertarian Party candidate Chase Oliver. “I wanted to meet with all the candidates to talk about dampening down the rhetoric and unifying our country and also talk about some of the issues — ending the wars, et cetera.” Kennedy said he wasn’t sure he would be able to serve in a Harris-Walz administration unless “a lot of different changes” were made. RFK JR. DISQUALIFIED FROM NEW YORK BALLOT, USED ‘SHAM’ ADDRESS FOR RESIDENCY, JUDGE RULES “The other candidates have met with me, Kamala Harris has said she doesn’t want to,” Kennedy said. “I believe it would be tough for me to work with their administration unless they committed to a lot of different changes.” The report from the Washington Post on Wednesday claimed Kennedy — whose long-shot bid for president took a hit earlier this week when a judge ruled his name should not appear on New York’s ballot — sought out a meeting with Harris in hopes of landing a potential Cabinet secretary position in her future administration.  Kennedy was previously recorded on video speaking to former President Trump during a meeting at last month’s convention in Milwaukee, in which Trump appeared to allude to potential positions in his administration. CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Nevertheless, Kennedy has continued to campaign and make regular media appearances with the expectation that he can win the election, the report notes, though he has left open the possibility of meeting with or getting out of the way of either Harris or Trump if they share an openness about his vision for the country. Polling has shown Kennedy is one of the most disruptive independent candidates in decades in both breadth of appeal and commitment of his supporters. Fox News Digital’s Michael Lee contributed to this report.