A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official raised concerns about Democrat vice presidential candidate Tim Walz’s ties to Communist China, a House Oversight Committee investigation has revealed.
A DHS official told colleagues that Democrat presidential candidate Kamala Harris’s decision to name Minnesota Gov. Walz as her running mate “feeds into” the agenda of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The official noted that Harris choosing Walz as her VP candidate aligns with activities the People’s Republic of China (PRC) was conducting “with him and local government.”
The DHS employee warned that Beijing could “target” Walz to exert influence on U.S. policy.
In August, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) launched an investigation into Walz’s “longstanding” ties to the CCP.
Last month, Comer subpoenaed DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for records relating to those alleged connections.
Comer subpoenaed Mayorkas after a whistleblower notified the committee of the existence of a non-classified Microsoft Teams group chat among DHS employees.
The whistleblower also handed over additional intelligence reports that allegedly contained information regarding Walz’s connections to the CCP.
On Tuesday, Comer penned a letter to Mayorkas.
The chairman made public the fact that DHS has been “unresponsive to the subpoena.”
Now, Comer has unilaterally released a portion of DHS internal communications it received from the whistleblower.
The identity of the sender was redacted.
“Walt’s [sic] got the Vp,” reads the message.
“You all have no idea how this feeds into what prc has been doing here with him and local gov.”
“It’s seriously a line of the intel,” the official added.
“Target someone who is perceived they can get to DC.”
In a Tuesday letter to Mayorkas, Comer wrote:
“The Committee is releasing the above message as an example of communications within DHS’s possession in which DHS officials express concern about the CCP targeting politicians and their influence operations at the state and local levels — and specifically, concerns about the CCP’s influence operations as they related to Governor Walz.”
Comer explained that the message was sent using a Microsoft Teams group chat among DHS employees.
The group was entitled “NST NFT Bi-Weekly Sync,” the same chat identified in Comer’s subpoena.
Meanwhile, Comer said that a whistleblower provided further information to the committee.
The information indicates that officials from DHS’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis and Homeland Security Investigations have been involved in the agency’s investigative and/or intelligence work connected with the CCP, the state of Minnesota, and Walz.
“The Committee’s concerns surrounding CCP elite capture operations seeking to influence public officials like Governor Walz have intensified given recent reports about Governor Walz’s extensive travel history, unusual interactions in the People’s Republic of China, and recent inability to answer basic questions about his involvement in China,” Comer wrote.
Comer is also subpoenaing all intelligence information reports and regional intelligence notes related to Walz from November 2023 to the present.
Last month, Comer revealed that Walz had “engaged and partnered with” Chinese entities.
Comer asserts that this engagement is making Walz “susceptible” to the CCP’s strategy of “elite capture.”
This agenda 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 has pointed to reports that Walz organized a trip to China for Alliance High School students while working as a teacher in the 1990s.
The costs were reportedly “paid by the Chinese government.”
Comer is investigating Walz’s 1994-created private company named “Educational Travel Adventures, Inc.”
The company coordinated annual student trips to China until 2003.
Led by Walz, the company was reportedly “dissolved four days after he took congressional office in 2007.”
Comer said Walz has traveled to China an estimated “30 times.”
Comer also pointed to Walz’s time in Congress, when he served as a fellow at the Macau Polytechnic University.
The college is a Chinese institution that characterizes itself as having a “long-held devotion to and love for the motherland.”
In 2019, Walz headlined the 27th National Convention for the U.S.-China Peoples Friendship Association in Minnesota.
Walz also spoke alongside the president of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.
A year later, the State Department exposed that organization as “a Beijing-based organization tasked with co-opting subnational governments.”
The House Oversight Committee revealed that the organization was involved in efforts to “directly and malignly influence state and local leaders to promote the PRC’s global agenda.”
Additionally, Walz had a meeting with Consul General Zhao Jian in March of this year.
They met to discuss “China-U.S. relations and subnational cooperation.”
As for the subpoena, Comer said that DHS has been “unresponsive” and is not operating in “good faith.”
Comer said the DHS “did not produce responsive documents.”
Last week, Comer said he spoke with DHS’s senior advisor for legislative affairs during an October 21 phone call.
However, he said that the official “offered no substantive information, nor any assurance that substantive information would be forthcoming.”
“DHS has been wholly unresponsive, and the Committee is considering all available options,” Comer wrote.
“The documents covered by the Committee’s subpoena will inform the Committee’s understanding of CCP political warfare against the United States and how effectively federal agencies are countering the communist regime’s infiltration operations.”
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