Bombshell investigation reveals spying in top Republican circles and naive US responses
By
David Cay Johnston, DCReport Editor-in-Chief
Communist Chinese
government operatives got into the Trump White House and also sat at a
confidential Republican election strategy meeting, Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal reports.Some of the conduct the Journal described could form the basis for federal felony indictments.
Fronts for the
People’s Liberation Army and the Chinese Communist Party donated at least $450,000
to Trump’s 2017 inaugural and his campaign, money the newspaper said was
crucial to obtaining direct access to Trump and GOP strategy meetings. A
furtive organization was created in California to boost Trump’s chances of
getting a second term.
The Journal focused on
four men, three of whom operate through fronts for the Chinese military or the
Communist Party. One of the three, Tang Ben, is a naturalized American citizen.
He and his wife gave $300,000 to Trump Victory, among the largest donations made
to that organization.
After assuming office, Trump and wife Melania posed for photos with Tang. PHOTO ABOVE.
After assuming office, Trump and wife Melania posed for photos with Tang. PHOTO ABOVE.
Trump and his staff of
unqualified family and equally unqualified sycophants are naïve and gullible,
their rank incompetence unwittingly putting our national security in jeopardy.
The fourth man, a
Chinese national whose green card allows him to work here, created Chinese Americans for Trump. The
group boosted Trump’s political fortunes and ignored his many
racist anti-Asian comments, which have continued to this week.
The Journal said David
Tian Wang acted at the behest of the Chinese consulate in Los Angeles in
creating the group. This appears to be an example of astroturfing, the
practice of masking the identities of sponsors to make them seem to be
grassroots participants and to hide financial connections.
Wang gave $150,000 to
the group, which passed the money on to the Trump campaign and the Republican
National Committee.
“In May 2017, Mr. Wang
attended a Republican National Committee invitation-only leadership meeting in
San Diego as a guest of [GOP official Shawn] Steel, the California
committeeman, people familiar with the matter said. The gathering was an early
chance for Republican leaders to plan the path forward for the party after Mr.
Trump’s inauguration.
“Accompanying Mr. Wang
to the meeting as Mr. Steel’s guests were three men linked to China’s
government. The first was Zhao Gang, whom Chinese official websites identify as
a researcher for China’s Ministry of Science and Technology focused on national
security, tech diplomacy and other issues. Mr. Zhao’s work has connected him
with the senior echelons of China’s Communist Party, including a close
associate of President Xi Jinping, say people who have met Mr. Zhao.”
Rank Incompetence
As I read the Journal
article—and taking into context the notorious
interview Trump gave ABC News last year—Trump is not acting in
league with Beijing. Rather, the article shows, Trump and his staff of
unqualified family and equally unqualified sycophants are naive and gullible,
their rank incompetence unwittingly putting our national security in jeopardy.
A closed-door meeting
in San Diego in September 2016, just weeks before the election, was visited by
foreigners. The Journal was unable to identify one of the four men who
attended, describing him as “an older man wearing a Mao suit [who] led the
Chinese side, who participants were told was a personal adviser to President
Xi.”
The conduct of the
four Chinese men so alarmed one of the Americans present that he alerted
American national security officials. That action by Welton Chang, a former
U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency officer, stands in sharp contrast to the Trump
campaign leadership secretly meeting with Kremlin agents.
Donald Trump Jr. received an email that the Putin regime was eager to help Trump defeat Hillary Clinton in 2016. None of the Americans alerted American intelligence officials. Instead, they repeatedly lied, denying any such meeting occurred until The New York Times published incriminating emails.
Donald Trump Jr. received an email that the Putin regime was eager to help Trump defeat Hillary Clinton in 2016. None of the Americans alerted American intelligence officials. Instead, they repeatedly lied, denying any such meeting occurred until The New York Times published incriminating emails.
Moscow TV Calls Trump a
‘Russian Agent’
The Journal
revelations come six months after Russian state television, which is under the
control of Vladimir Putin, called Trump a “Russian agent” and referred to
Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov as Trump’s “puppet master.”
Rossiya 1, a Kremlin
channel, titled its Dec. 11, 2019 program “Puppet Master
and ‘Agent’—How to Understand Lavrov’s Meeting With Trump.”
Given the absolute
power with which Putin rules as a modern czar, murdering political opponents
and jailing rivals, that no rebuke was issued about the television program is
the most telling indication of what Putin thinks about Trump.
The Journal report was
posted online just hours after John Bolton, Trump’s former national security
adviser, revealed that Trump pleaded with Chinese President Xi Jinping for help
to win a second term.
Trump wanted Xi, general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, to buy billions of dollars of American soybeans and wheat so that Midwest farmers, a key Trump constituency, would maintain support for him, Bolton wrote in “The Room Where it Happened.”
Trump wanted Xi, general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, to buy billions of dollars of American soybeans and wheat so that Midwest farmers, a key Trump constituency, would maintain support for him, Bolton wrote in “The Room Where it Happened.”
The Trump Justice
Department tried, unsuccessfully, to persuade a federal judge to block
publication. The book went on sale June 23.
Trump OK with Foreign
Interference
Soliciting or
accepting help from foreign interests is a felony. But in 2016, the leadership
of the Trump campaign met with Kremlin operatives after being told in writing
that Moscow wanted to help Trump win election. Then, for a full year, Trump
associates lied and denied any such meeting happened.
In June 2019, George
Stephanopoulos of ABC News asked Trump about accepting help from Moscow or
Beijing to win re-election. Embedded in his question was the fact that accepting
such help is a violation of American law. Trump disputed that point.
“It’s not an
interference, they have information—I think I’d take it,” Trump
said, adding that he saw nothing wrong with accepting campaign assistance from
foreign powers, even adversaries of the United States. That is one of many
examples of Trump’s criminality, disloyalty and utter lack of patriotism.
At the same time that
Trump & Co. have either been duped by or willingly embraced fronts for the
Chinese military and the ruling Communist Party, the administration has posed
as tough on Chinese infiltration of American academic institutions.
Various academics have
been arrested on charges whose significance is unclear, but some of which
appear from my reading of court records to be trumped up.
Professor Arrested
In January the Justice
Department arrested Charles
Lieber, a globally renown nontechnology expert who is chair of
Harvard University’s Chemistry and Chemical Biology Department. Two Chinese
nationals also were charged in connection with aiding the People’s Republic of
China.
As described by the
Justice Department, the case against Lieber seems to be technical, not
substantive. It seems aimed primarily at securing Lieber’s help in convicting
the Chinese nationals, one a People’s Liberation Army lieutenant, on theft and
spying-related charges. Lieber’s lawyer, Marc
Mukasey, says Lieber is a victim, not a perpetrator.
The Trump Justice
Department and local authorities persuaded judges to impose harsh penalties
against two Chinese women, one who appears to be just a tourist whose
sightseeing went awry.
Yujing Zhang, a
33-year-old Chinese businesswoman who carried a
Faraday bag that blocks electronic signals lied her way into
the resort last year. It is unclear whether she was a bumbling tourist who
wanted to see the American president or an inept spy. Zhang got eight
months in federal prison for lying to a Secret Service agent and an order of
deportation.
Harsh Sentence
The other woman, Lu
Jing, 56, who was acquitted by a state jury on trespassing charges, says she
innocently was taking photographs. She was sentenced to six months. Her crime?
Nonviolently resisting arrest. Jing crossed her arms, balled her hands and
shouted, “No, no, no,” according to Palm Beach police. Think about that –– six
months behind bars for that.
Those harsh sentences,
the arrest of Lieber and recent arrests of others all are designed to show the
Trump regime is looking for ways to make voters believe it is pushing a hard
line on Chinese infiltration and spying even as Trump pleads for favors from
President Xi, as John Bolton revealed.
These Trumpian tactics
create confusion about where Trump stands. They also deflect attention about
Trump & Co.’s perfidy in dealing with fronts for the communist dictator in
Beijing.