The House Oversight Committee has launched an investigation into Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s “longstanding connections” to China over concerns the Chinese Communist Party could influence his decision-making.
Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, Kentucky Republican, cited reports that Mr. Walz, who was tapped by Vice President Kamala Harris to be her running mate, has visited China some 30 times over the years and how those visits yielded “concerning ties” to the Chinese Communist Party.
In a letter to FBI Director Christopher A. Wray, Mr. Comer requested that the bureau provide the panel by Aug. 30 any information about Chinese entities and officials Mr. Walz may have engaged and partnered with, plus “any warnings or advice the FBI may have given to Gov. Walz about U.S. political figures being targeted by or recruited for CCP influence operations.”
“It has come to the committee’s attention that Gov. Walz has longstanding connections to CCP-connected entities and officials that make him susceptible to the party’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,” Mr. Comer wrote in the letter Friday.
He added, “Reporting about Gov. Walz’s extensive engagement with CCP officials and entities while serving in public office raises questions about possible CCP influence in his decision-making as governor — and, should he be elected, as vice president.”
Since Mr. Walz joined the Democratic presidential ticket, Republicans have pounced on a relationship with China that saw him first visit the country in 1989 as a college graduate to teach English.
The Washington Times contacted the Harris-Walz campaign for comment on the investigation.
Mr. Comer requested that the FBI turn over all documents and communications related to numerous entities and people Mr. Walz encountered or may have met in his association with China, including Consul General Zhao Jian, Confucius Institutes and the Chinese ministries of public security and state security.
Mr. Comer listed “concerning ties” that Mr. Walz had with the communist country since a visit there in 1993 when as a teacher he organized a trip for Nebraska’s Alliance High School students that was paid for by the Chinese government.
The next year, Mr. Walz started a business, Educational Travel Adventures, that coordinated student trips led by him to China. Mr. Comer noted that the company was reportedly dissolved “four days” before Mr. Walz joined Congress in 2007.
Despite the accusations from the GOP, Mr. Walz has remained hawkish toward the Chinese government, particularly over human rights violations. Indeed, during his tenure in Congress, Mr. Walz served as one of the top Democrats on the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, a panel geared toward criticizing the Chinese government’s human rights abuses.
Yet Mr. Comer highlighted that while serving in Congress, Mr. Walz served as a fellow at Macao Polytechnic University, a Chinese institution that characterizes itself as having a “long-held devotion to and love for the motherland.”
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“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,” Mr. Comer said. “Americans should be deeply concerned that Gov. Walz, Kamala Harris’s vice presidential running mate, has a long-standing and cozy relationship with China.”
Mr. Comer’s push for an investigation into Mr. Walz’s ties to China followed another inquiry from Rep. Jim Banks, who chairs the Armed Services Committee’s military personnel panel.
Mr. Banks, Indiana Republican, this week pressed Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to answer questions about Mr. Walz’s numerous trips to China during the vice presidential candidate’s 24 years in the Army National Guard.
The lawmaker questioned how a senior enlisted Guardsman traveled to China regularly on unofficial business without raising red flags and raised concerns that Mr. Walz may not have complied with foreign travel reporting requirements despite presumably holding a security clearance.
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.
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