(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The FBI is apparently stonewalling the House Oversight Committee’s attempts to investigate Minnesota Gov. and Democratic candidate for vice president Tim Walz over his ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
The House Oversight Committee launched an investigation into Walz on Aug. 16, asking FBI Director Chris Wray to hand over documents and communications related to Walz and his partnerships with CCP-linked entities.
The FBI has ignored that request, according to another letter Oversight Chairman James Comer wrote on Thursday.
“The FBI’s silence regarding Mr. Walz’s documented relations with CCP affiliates is inexcusable,” Comer said in his letter to Wray.
NEW: The FBI is being pressed by House Oversight Chair James Comer to promptly turn over information on a China-linked research institute that Tim Walz helped secure funding for and—as I reported at @dcexaminer —is a partner of the CCP-run Wuhan Institute of Virology. 🧵 pic.twitter.com/G0QALfQJg5
— Gabe Kaminsky (@gekaminsky) September 12, 2024
“The Committee must understand the full extent of Mr. Walz’s ties to the CCP.”
Comer recounted Walz’s 30-some trips to China, including at least one funded by the CCP. He also cited recent reports about Walz having “helped secure over $2 million” and “pushed for a $5 million federal earmark” for the Hormel Institute, which has a history of working with the infamous Wuhan Institute of Virology in China.
“The Wuhan Institute of Virology is closely connected to the CCP and has been implicated in the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Walz reminded Wray in his letter, adding that the Hormel Institute has also worked with the Beijing Genomics Institute—a group labeled by the Pentagon as a “Chinese military company.”
“The Committee is concerned that Mr. Walz’s involvement with Chinese entities and officials may have allowed the CCP to influence his decision-making as a congressman and governor and potentially would allow the CCP to influence the White House should Mr. Walz be elected vice president,” Comer said.
Comer reiterated his request for documents from the FBI, including records from its Foreign Influence Task Force’s, regarding any Chinese entity or individual with whom Walz may have engaged or partnered.
Additionally, Comer requested all documents and information in the FBI’s possession regarding the Beijing Genomics Institute, the Hormel Institute and Dr. Zigang Dong.
Dong is the former executive director of the Hormel Institute, who “abruptly stepped down from his post” in 2019, around the same time it was revealed that the FBI was investigating his “possible failure to report foreign backing,” Comer said.
Comer now seeks the records by Sept. 19.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
