Rep. James Comer (R-KY) has issued a subpoena to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas concerning unverified claims of connections to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) involving Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a Democrat.
In a letter accompanying the subpoena, which was made public on Thursday, Comer indicated that the House Oversight and Accountability Committee had received information from a whistleblower expressing “serious concern among Department of Homeland Security (DHS) personnel regarding a longstanding connection between” Tim Walz and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
This letter was released just one day prior to Walz’s scheduled debate with Trump’s vice-presidential candidate JD Vance in a televised event on Tuesday.
The Hill reported:
“Specifically, Comer pointed to a nonclassified chat that DHS employees used on Microsoft Teams titled “NST NFT Bi-Weekly Sync” that he said contains relevant information, in addition to further classified and unclassified documents in the control of DHS. The acronym stands for “Nation State Threat — National Functional Team,” according to the committee. Comer did not go into detail about what kind of concerns were raised about Walz’s alleged connection to China but said the information came through a whistleblower. The subpoena gave a deadline of Oct. 7 to produce the communication in the Microsoft Teams group chat relating to Walz from July 1, 2024, to present, as well as any intelligence information reports or regional intelligence notes since Nov. 2023 to present relating to Walz, his staff, or his gubernatorial office.”
The correspondence indicated that the committee initiated its investigation into CCP influence within the United States government “well in advance of Governor Walz’s ascension as the vice-presidential candidate” for Kamala Harris.
“In particular, if a state governor and major political party’s nominee for Vice President of the United States has been a witting or unwitting participant in the CCP’s efforts to weaken our nation, this would strongly suggest that there are alarming weaknesses in the federal government’s effort to defend the United States from the CCP’s political warfare that must be urgently addressed,” Comer wrote.
BREAKING.🚨🚨
Whistlleblower informs @GOPoversight about U.S. intelligence uncovering verified links between the C.C.P. and Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz pic.twitter.com/eMeL9oaT5g
— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) September 30, 2024