Tag: China

Senator Joni Ernst Commentary: EcoHealth Can’t Be Trusted with Taxpayer Money – or Bats

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Nearly two years ago, I requested an investigation by the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) into EcoHealth Alliance —the shady organization that funneled taxpayer money into China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) to conduct risky research on coronaviruses.

The investigation came after we learned that EcoHealth was spending our tax dollars on dangerous experiments in Wuhan, China, and was not disclosing information about those projects to the public, as required by law.

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New House Intel Panel Member Rep. Austin Scott Calls for Probe into Adversaries’ Control of U.S. Supply Chain

Just the News

Georgia Republican Rep. Austin Scott, a new member on the House Intelligence Committee, hopes the panel will investigate efforts by unfriendly foreign powers to insert themselves into U.S. food and technology supply chains.

“One of the things that I expect us to look into, and hopefully look into, is where our adversaries have embedded themselves in the supply chain of basic necessities for Americans,” Scott said on the John Solomon Reports podcast.

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Republican U.S. Senators File Bill to End China’s Permanent Normal Trade Status

The Center Square

Several Republican senators filed a bill on Friday to end China’s Permanent Normal Trade Status (PNTR), citing concerns over American job losses and human rights abuses overseas.

The China Trade Relations Act, which would strip China of its PNTR, was filed by U.S. Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Rick Scott, R-Fla., Ted Budd, R-N.C., and J.D. Vance, R-Ohio.

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Most Politicians’ Think Tanks Heavy on Research Output, in Contrast to Penn Biden Center

Bradley Vasoli

Numerous university think tanks have had national political leaders as figureheads. The University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement isn’t unique in that regard. What does set the center apart from similar institutions — besides its recent immersion in national scandal — is its limited research output. 

The Penn Biden Center is undergoing intense and somewhat bipartisan criticism for having housed nearly a dozen classified government records after Joe Biden used the space as his main D.C. office from 2017 to 2019 while also nominally working as a professor. The documents were discovered last November and other restricted federal materials turned up this month in the president’s Delaware home. Some of the records were generated when Biden served as a U.S. senator and others materialized when he was vice president. 

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Penn Biden Center Hosted ‘Bootcamp’ for Congressional Staffers Promoting Closer China Ties

Bradley Vasoli

President Joe Biden’s D.C.-based think tank operated by the University of Pennsylvania reportedly held a two-day “bootcamp” last year during which congressional staffers were urged to support greater cooperation between the United States and China. 

The Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement has become the subject of heightened public attention in light of revelations earlier this month that Biden, who used the establishment as his main D.C. office, kept classified federal documents there. 

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Democratic Congressman: ‘No One Can Defend Having Classified Documents’ at Penn Biden Center

Bradley Vasoli

A Democratic California congressman this week weighed in on President Joe Biden’s classified-document scandal, characterizing the president’s housing of restricted records in his University of Pennsylvania office and his Delaware home as indefensible.

A member of the House Oversight and Armed Services committees, U.S. Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA-17) told Fox News that Biden warrants scrutiny for keeping numerous records he obtained during his earlier service as a U.S. senator and later as vice president. Khanna noted that the law requires classified federal documents to be kept in “sensitive compartmented information facilities” (SCIFs). While presidents can sometimes temporarily designate rooms within their personal properties as SCIFs, Biden has never suggested any spaces in his home or office were deemed to be such areas. 

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University of Wisconsin System Says It Will Ban TikTok After Congressional Warnings

M.D. Kittle

After Gov. Tony Evers finally relented and ordered TikTok banned from state government devices, Wisconsin’s Republican congressional delegation asked University of Wisconsin System President Jay Rothman to follow suit. A UW System spokesman on Wednesday said the schools will follow part of the lawmakers’ request and restrict TikTok from UW System-owned devices.

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Filings: Major Left-Wing Nonprofits Funneled Tens of Millions to China in 2021

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Two of the largest left-wing nonprofit organizations in the country collectively sent at least $39 million to China in 2021, according to IRS tax filings.

According to the Washington Free Beacon, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation sent a total of $30 million to various Chinese organizations and government entities, which included $2.5 million to China’s National Health Commission and $1.4 million to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. The Ford Foundation sent another $9.3 million, which included donations to at least three universities that are under the direct supervision of the government’s defense industry agency.

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Penn Biden Center Inactive and Seemingly Leaderless for Nearly a Year

Bradley Vasoli

The Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy & Global Engagement, the University of Pennsylvania think tank of which President Joe Biden was once the de facto leader, has had no publicized activity for nearly a year and its future is uncertain.

Biden reportedly used the Washington, D.C.-based center as his main D.C. office for much of the time between the end of his vice presidency in 2017 and his presidential run in 2020. From 2017 to 2019, Biden received approximately $900,000 in salary for a Penn professorship that did not require him to teach regular classes. 

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Economic Experts Weigh Youngkin’s Decision to Halt Virginia Ford Plant

The Center Square

Growth in plants connected to electric vehicles has roared across the country.

Not everyone, however, is quickly jumping in.

When Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin said last week that he stopped efforts to establish a Ford Motors battery plant at a megasite in the state due to its Chinese partner, it was the first time University of Texas professor Nathan Jensen could recall a state rejecting an economic incentive deal for a battery plant.

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Texas Representative Gooden Calls on Administration to Investigate Gifts to Penn from China

Bradley Vasoli

A Texas congressman is asking the U.S. Department of Education (DoE) to investigate funding that foreign entities have bestowed on the University of Pennsylvania.

Last week, U.S. Representative Lance Gooden (R-TX-5) authored a letter to Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona in which he noted that $51 million flowed to the Philadelphia Ivy League university from non-American sources in 2021 and 2022. Of those donations, $14 million came from unnamed Chinese or Hong Kong entities and $2.4 million came from Saudi Arabia. 

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Michigan Voting Firm Stored Election Data in China, Whistleblower Alleges

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A Michigan-based election infrastructure firm stored poll workers’ private data in China, a new whistleblower complaint obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation says, matching earlier allegations against the company and CEO Eugene Yu.

Grant Bradley, a former employee at Konnech, a software firm that provides logistics for poll stations at 32 locations across the U.S., also said that the company’s “developers, designers and coders are all Chinese nationals based out of Wuhan, China,” in the complaint, which was first disclosed by the Federalist on Friday and filed in Michigan court on Dec. 22, shows. Bradley claimed to witness information of poll watchers “being made accessible” to individuals in China but did not comprehend the extent of the data routed through China until True the Vote, an election integrity advocacy organization, lodged allegations in 2021.

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Hunter Biden’s China-Linked Company Paid $49,910 Security Deposit for Washington D.C Office at the House of Sweden

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The monthly rent Hunter Biden listed on a background screening form in 2018 exactly matches the security deposit he paid for an office at the House of Sweden in Washington D.C. the year before. In the 2018 document, the younger Biden listed Joe Biden’s Delaware mansion as his residence, and claimed that he was paying a whopping $49,910 a month in monthly rent.

Joe Biden stored a number of classified documents in the library and alongside his Corvette in the garage of his house in Greenville, Delaware, an upscale suburb of Wilmington.

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Amid Renewed Controversy, Penn Scholars Defend Opposition to China Initiative to Catch Spies

Bradley Vasoli

Revelations that President Joe Biden kept classified federal documents at his University of Pennsylvania office in Washington, D.C., have brought renewed scrutiny to his relationship with the university — and the role many Penn professors had in persuading his administration to kill a Justice Department project combatting Chinese espionage.

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Youngkin Felt Rejected Ford Battery Plant Deal Was ‘Deceptive’ Effort to Dodge Intent of Inflation Reduction Act

Eric Burk

RICHMOND, Virginia – Governor Glenn Youngkin said Thursday that he felt that Ford’s partnership with Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. (CATL) to build a battery factory potentially sited in Virginia seemed like an effort to dodge the intent behind the Inflation Reduction Act, and accused The Richmond Times-Dispatch of ignoring facts in reporting on his decision to block the economic development opportunity from going forward in the Commonwealth.

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Wisconsin Rep. Gallagher Says U.S. Universities ‘Addicted to CCP Money’

M.D. Kittle

As influence-peddling allegations dog President Joe Biden, the University of Pennsylvania and their think tank offspring, the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy & Global Engagement, the head of the House’s new committee on China is again warning U.S. higher education is “addicted” to Communist China money. U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI-08) has long been monitoring the Biden administration’s lax enforcement of Section 117 of the Higher Education Act, which requires colleges and universities to publicly disclose any foreign gift greater than $250,000.

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Report: Children Under 14 Dying from Fentanyl Poisoning at Faster Rate than Any Other Age Group

The Center Square

Children under age 14 are dying from fentanyl poisoning at a faster rate than any other age group in the U.S., according to a new analysis from Families Against Fentanyl.

In the past two years, synthetic opioid (fentanyl) deaths among children surged.

Fentanyl-related deaths among infants (children under age one) quadrupled from 2019 to 2021; more than tripled among children between the ages of 1 and 4 and nearly quadrupled among children between the ages of 5 and 14.

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Watchdogs Have Long Warned About Biden’s Pay-to-Play Penn Biden Center

M.D. Kittle

The Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement opened in 2018 as then-former Vice President Joe Biden’s “think tank.” It was founded, according to the institution, “on the principle that a democratic, open, secure, tolerant, and interconnected world benefits all Americans.” But it looks like Biden, his 2020 presidential campaign, his liberal allies, and perhaps some foreign friends have grabbed the brunt of the center’s benefits.  

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National Legal and Policy Center Attorney Paul Kamenar Comments on May 2020 Letter Alerting Lack of Transparency in Anonymous Funding to Biden Penn Center

Julie Carr

Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed the counsel for National Legal and Policy Center, attorney Paul Kamenar to comment on the letter he wrote in May of 2020 alerting Secretary of Education’s Betsy DeVos about millions in anonymous funds received by the Penn Biden Center.

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Biden-Penn-China Funding Concerns Flagged for Then-Pennsylvania AG Josh Shapiro 18 Months Ago

Just the News

Concerns about funding ties linking China, Joe Biden and the heavily Chinese-funded University of Pennsylvania were brought to the attention of state law enforcement almost two years ago, with no official action taken by the state’s then-Attorney General Josh Shapiro or any members of his staff. 

The letter, sent by a group called “Take Back Our Republic” and addressed to Shapiro and other high-ranking members of his team, was sent in July of 2021. That was nearly a year and a half before the Biden classified document story broke, resulting in Attorney General Merrick Garland appointing a special counsel on Thursday to investigate the matter. 

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Biden’s Classified Documents Scandal Raises Questions About Penn Biden Center’s Foreign Donations

M.D. Kittle

As a second batch of classified government documents pops up in the garage of President Joe Biden’s Delaware home, Republican lawmakers want answers for the kind of records handling that got former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home raided. 

Meanwhile, the Biden Center, a think tank funded by the University of Pennsylvania, is coming under increased scrutiny as a “dark-money, revolving-door nightmare” where foreign competitors like China are suspected of currying favor with high-ranking officials, according to a government watchdog. 

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Youngkin Makes Legislative Pitches During State of the Commonwealth Address

Eric Burk

RICHMOND, Virginia — Governor Glenn Youngkin continued his call for tax cuts, changes to education policy, and increased funding for law enforcement as part of his Wednesday State of the Commonwealth address; he described his first term as a reversal after his Democratic predecessors, and called on legislators to “press the accelerator.”

“I am here this afternoon to communicate that the state of our Commonwealth is substantially better than it was last year,” he said to applause. “We are still a great distance from our destination. A destination where Virginia truly is the best place to live, work, and raise a family. I’m here this afternoon to urge us to accelerate our efforts to get more done and to get it done faster.”

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U.S. to Bulk Up Pacific Military Presence as China Eyes Taiwan

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The U.S. and Japan are set to agree on restructuring the U.S. Marine force stationed in Okinawa, Japan, to give them more firepower and the ability to quickly respond if China attacks Taiwan, according to media reports.

A new strategy will arm the roughly 18,000 Marines deployed to Okinawa with missiles that can reach the Chinese mainland and increase their maneuverability if they are called upon to defend Taiwan from a Chinese invasion, The Washington Post reported, citing two officials familiar with the matter. Japan and the U.S. agreed to the restructuring as China readies for a potential offensive, officials said.

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China Using Fentanyl as Weapon in ‘Unrestricted Warfare’ Against US, Former DEA Special Ops Chief Says

Just the News

A former top Drug Enforcement Administration official is warning that China is using the Mexican drug cartels to traffic fentanyl as part of a larger “unrestricted warfare” strategy to kill off America’s next generation and supplant the U.S. as the world’s preeminent power.

Derek Maltz, the agency’s former chief of special operations, told Just the News the Biden administration has strong evidence of how China markets the precursor ingredients for fentanyl to the cartels and where in Mexico the production labs are based. But, he said, the administration is allowing cartels to operate freely across the U.S. southern border to move drugs and earn billions of dollars trafficking humans to create new cash flow for their fentanyl supply networks, a scourge claiming more than 100,000 American lives a year.

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World Health Organization Admits to China Covering Up COVID-19 Information

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On Wednesday, after a meeting between representatives of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the World Health Organization (WHO), the WHO finally issued a statement condemning China for its suppression of information regarding the Chinese coronavirus pandemic.

According to the Daily Caller, the WHO issued the statement after the meeting on Tuesday, declaring that it would “continue to closely monitor the situation in the People’s Republic of China,” while adding that there was a “critical need for and importance of additional analysis as well as sharing of sequence data.”

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Despite Voting to Ban on Government Devices, Some U.S. Lawmakers Still Using TikTok

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Some lawmakers are active on TikTok even after concerns about the social media platform’s surveillance capabilities prompted Congress to ban it on some federal devices in December.

The bipartisan omnibus spending bill passed on Dec. 23 prohibits TikTok on executive branch mobile devices, with limited carveouts for national security, law enforcement and research purposes. However, Democratic Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Jamaal Bowman of New York, Cori Bush of Missouri and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan appear to be active on the platform, their accounts show, despite voting yes or “present” for the bill.

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Tennessee, Georgia, and Virginia Among 18 States Banning Social Media App TikTok from State Devices

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Following South Dakota GOP Gov. Kristi Noem’s lead, nearly half of U.S. states have put restrictions on or banned the use of Chinese-based social media app TikTok.

At least 19 states have banned TikTok on government-issued devices – Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Idaho, Iowa, Maryland, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utha, Virginia and West Virginia.

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Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty: State Government Should Ban TikTok

Bradley Vasoli

A Milwaukee-based think tank is weighing in on the Wisconsin state government’s social media policy, urging Governor Tony Evers (D) to ban the video-sharing application’s use by state agencies. 

In a report called “The Mysterious TikTok-ing Noise,” the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) notes that numerous other governors earlier this month signed orders instructing all departments under their control to delete the program from their devices. The piece also observed the unanimous vote taken last week by the U.S. Senate to adopt the same policy for all federal computer hardware. 

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Florida AG Moody Calls on Biden to Restore Top Drug Post to Address National Fentanyl Crisis

The Center Square
Ashley Moody

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody on Monday called on President Joe Biden to reverse an Obama-era decision to make the Director for the Office of the National Drug Control Policy a cabinet-level position again.

Moody sent a letter to the president asking him to take action immediately before the public health authority Title 42 ends this week, “which will fuel a massive border surge and allow even more deadly fentanyl to flood into the country,” she said.

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Commentary: China Insults a Submissive Biden Desperate to Talk to Xi Jinping

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“Doubled-faced.” That’s how Beijing just described two senior Biden administration officials who had traveled to China, seeking to repair relations with the Chinese regime.

Last week, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink and Laura Rosenberger, the senior director for China at the National Security Council (NSC), flew to Langfang in Hebei province for talks with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng.

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Auburn Bans TikTok from University Devices, WiFi

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Days after Gov. Kay Ivey issued a memo banning TikTok from government devices, Auburn University announced its plans to prohibit the app as well.

On Wednesday, Auburn’s IT department sent out a notice saying the popular video-sharing app would be banned on campus WiFi and devices, according to AL.com. The IT department on Thursday tweeted a link to the new policy. However, that tweet has since been removed, and the school’s IT page posted an update Saturday saying, “Auburn is monitoring the developments related to accessing TikTok and will provide information as we receive it. Check back later for more information.”

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Wisconsin’s Gallagher and Illinois’s Krishnamoorthi File Bipartisan TikTok Ban Legislation

Bradley Vasoli

A bipartisan group of federal lawmakers this week filed legislation in the House of Representatives to ban the TikTok video-sharing application nationwide. 

Congressmen Mike Gallagher (R-WI-8) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL-8) submitted their bill in the House of Representatives while Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced companion legislation in his chamber. They call their measure the Averting the National Threat of Internet Surveillance, Oppressive Censorship and Influence, and Algorithmic Learning by the Chinese Communist Party Act (ANTI-SOCIAL CCP Act). It is written broadly enough to possibly prohibit use of other platforms operating under the influence of “a country of concern” such as China or Russia. 

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Wisconsin Congressman Gallagher: Nationwide TikTok Ban to Be Introduced This Month

Bradley Vasoli

U.S. Congressman Mike Gallagher (R-WI-8) this week touted an emerging effort in both houses of Congress to ban the video-sharing application TikTok nationwide. 

Gallagher and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) penned an opinion piece for The Washington Post last month insisting Americans should not have access to the app. In a discussion with WISN CHANNEL 12 on Monday, Gallagher said he will introduce bipartisan legislation to that effect this month and he anticipates it will get a vote early next year. 

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Commentary: TikTok Needs to Be Destroyed

Admin

Twitter was a huge lie, but it was fun. Maybe it’s like television. Elon Musk is having a blast unveiling the conservative-hiding, progressive-promoting plot that was rising up in the complex engineering behind the little blue bird, which leads me to believe that the lovable little critter was actually a big monster. That liberals are outraged by the revelations only proves one thing: cancellation is their erotic dream and their nightmare is freedom. They already enjoyed the former too much. Now, it’s time for the latter.

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Arizona Treasurer Kimberly Yee Explains Divestment from BlackRock Following CEO Fink’s Political Messaging

Neil Jones

Arizona State Treasurer Kimberly Yee (R) shared in a statement Thursday how her office has made significant divestments from investment company BlackRock following concerns that CEO Larry Fink was using the company to spread his political beliefs.

“The Arizona Treasury has received many questions, comments and concerns in the past few months regarding BlackRock, as several states have recently announced they are no longer investing with BlackRock,” said Yee. “We will continue to fight back against the dangerous path of companies pushing their social issues and wokeism inside of the investment space and return to traditional money management that puts the people first.”

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Wisconsin Congressman Calls on LinkedIn to Remove Job Listings for Companies That Pose Security Threats

Bradley Vasoli

U.S. Representative Mike Gallagher (R-WI-8) this week urged the head of the career-networking website LinkedIn to prohibit the platform from posting job openings at companies posing security threats to America. 

Gallagher, who sits on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Armed Services Committee, penned a letter to LinkedIn Chief Executive Officer Ryan Roslansky, drawing particular attention to companies with ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The congressman stated that the site presently welcomes thousands of employment-opportunity notices from China-based corporations the U.S. government flags as national-security and privacy risks. 

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Fauci Worried That COVID Lab Leak Theories Would Increase Tensions with China

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During testimony last week, Anthony Fauci admitted that one of the reasons he repeatedly shot down any theories of the COVID-19 virus originating through a lab leak in Wuhan, China was because he did not want to risk escalating tensions between China and the United States.

The Washington Free Beacon reports that Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), made his comments during a 7-hour deposition as part of a lawsuit filed against the Biden Administration by the Attorneys General of Missouri and Louisiana. Fauci described his concern over “wild speculation and allegations” that China deliberately created the coronavirus, and then either intentionally or accidentally leaked it from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV).

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Wisconsin Republican Members of Congress Ask Evers to Pull Government TikTok

Bradley Vasoli

Republican members of Congress from Wisconsin this week called on Democratic Governor Tony Evers to end all state-government usage of the video-sharing application known as TikTok. 

The app, which has garnered about 80 million monthly active users since its release in 2016, is run by the Chinese technology corporation ByteDance. Recent reporting indicates the communist Chinese government is using the program to mine data from TikTok users aggressively and track some Americans’ whereabouts. 

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China-Linked Hackers Stole Millions in COVID-19 Relief Funds, Secret Service Says

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Foreign hackers linked to the Chinese government allegedly stole at least $20 million in COVID-19 relief funds, according to the U.S. Secret Service.

The China-linked hackers, known as APT41, are “a notable player” among the 1,000-plus investigations into criminals defrauding public benefits programs, according to an NBC News report confirmed by the Secret Service to the Daily Caller News Foundation. It is unknown whether the Chinese government directed APT41 to steal taxpayer funds or simply looked the other way, but the threat is  “dangerous” and has serious national security implications, an anonymous senior Department of Justice (DOJ) official told NBC News.

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Ohio Senator Portman, in Final Policy Effort in Senate, Calls for More Global Trade

Bradley Vasoli

U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) retires at the end of the year, but before he does, he hopes to have a hand in reenergizing openness toward global trade, a policy perspective that hasn’t been ascendant in the Biden administration or the preceding Trump administration. 

In a guest column for the D.C.-based Hill newspaper, Portman and his Democratic Delaware colleague Chris Coons called on Congress to pass a legislative package facilitating foreign trade agreements. The lawmakers particularly urged enactment of their Trading System Preservation Act. The act would enable the president to iron out industry-specific trade deals with other nations that are part of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and would allow negotiation of comprehensive agreements with Ecuador, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and Kenya. 

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Kevin McCarthy Vows to Form Select Committee on China as Speaker

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House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), in his bid to become the next Speaker of the House of Representatives, said on Sunday that if elected, he would form a select committee to investigate China.

As reported by the Washington Free Beacon, McCarthy declared that the Biden Administration is not doing enough to stand up to the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its leader, newly-reelected President Xi Jingping.

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Sen. Warner: Trump Right About Threat from TikTok

Eric Burk

Senate Intelligence Chair Mark Warner (D-VA) told Fox News that former President Donald Trump “was right” in his warnings about social media platform TikTok.

“TikTok is a enormous threat,” Warner said. “It’s a threat on two levels.  One, it is a massive collector of information, oftentimes of our children. They can visualize even down to your keystrokes. So if you’re a parent and you’ve got a kid on TikTok, I would be very, very concerned. All of that data that your child is inputting and receiving is being stored somewhere in Beijing.”

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Real Estate Firm Owned by Chinese Billionaire Found Guilty of Paying $1 Million in Bribes to L.A. Councilman

Just the News

A real estate firm in Los Angeles owned by a Chinese billionaire was found guilty of paying a city councilman more than $1 million in bribes to approve a skyscraper downtown. 

On Thursday, a jury found Shen Zhen New World I, a real estate firm owned by Chinese billionaire Wei Huang, guilty after less than three hours of deliberation. The charges included “three counts of honest service wire fraud, four counts of interstate and foreign travel in aid of bribery, and one count of bribery,” according to the Justice Department. 

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