A U.S. House committee investigating Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s “extensive engagement with China” says it obtained information from a whistleblower that shows Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials discussing “the CCP’s targeting of Governor Walz.”
In August, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability launched an investigation into Walz in response to “reports detailing the Governor’s longstanding connections to Chinese Communist Party (CCP) entities and officials.”
For months, the committee chairman, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., has investigated the CCP’s efforts to infiltrate and influence various sectors of the United States. Comer has stated that China’s infiltration campaign has included efforts to influence American elected officials.
“Mr. Walz has visited China dozens of times, served as a fellow at a Chinese institution that maintains a devotion to the CCP, and spoke alongside the President of a Chinese organization the State Department exposed as a CCP effort to influence and co-opt local leaders,” said Comer when he announced the Walz investigation in August.
“FBI briefers recently informed the Committee that the Bureau’s Foreign Influence Task Force investigates CCP activity that is similar to China’s engagement with Governor Walz. The American people deserve to fully understand how deep Governor Walz’s relationship with China goes,” added the chairman.
As such, Comer has repeatedly requested information from DHS relating to Gov. Walz and China.
Most recently, the Kentucky legislator issued a subpoena on Sept. 30 which sought “documents, communication, and intelligence reports in DHS’s possession related to Minnesota Governor Timothy Walz’s connections to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).”
However, Comer announced Tuesday that DHS has “been unresponsive to the subpoena.”
In turn, the chairman sent a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in which he published a “small portion” of information his committee received from a whistleblower.
Specifically, Comer released a screenshot of an internal message amongst DHS employees in which one member of DHS says: “Walt’s [sic] got the Vp. You all have no idea how this feeds into what prc [People’s Republic of China] has been doing here with him and local gov. It’s seriously a line of the intel. Target someone who is perceived they can get to DC.”
In his letter to Secretary Mayorkas, Comer said the message “shows DHS officials with subject matter expertise discussing, on the same day Vice President Kamala Harris selected Governor Walz as her running mate, the CCP’s targeting of Governor Walz.”
Comer’s letter further stated that the internal DHS message was “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 relate to Governor Walz.”
“A whistleblower has provided further information to the Committee that indicates officials from DHS’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) have been involved in the Department’s investigative and/or intelligence work connected with the CCP, the state of Minnesota, and Governor Walz,” Comer’s letter says.
Despite DHS’s failure to produce the documents sought by the committee, the chairman told Secretary Mayorkas that the committee “expects DHS to promptly respond with a substantive production of documents.”
Since the Minnesota governor was selected as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, Walz’s trips and connections to China over the years have seen increased scrutiny.
Earlier this week, the Daily Mail reported that Walz allegedly had a “secret fling” with a 24-year-old daughter of a CCP official when Walz was in China back in 1989. The woman, Jenna Wang, said she never told her CCP father about the relationship for fear of retribution.
Alpha News attempted to reach Walz’s team to ask about the Oversight Committee’s investigation and the alleged relationship with the daughter of a CCP official. However, Alpha News did not receive a reply by the time of publication.
Luke Sprinkel
Luke Sprinkel previously worked as a Legislative Assistant at the Minnesota House of Representatives. He grew up as a Missionary Kid (MK) living in England, Thailand, Tanzania, and the Middle East. Luke graduated from Regent University in 2018.
