A Democrat inadvertently paid a Chinese foreign agent, claims innocence

EXCLUSIVE — Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) paid thousands of dollars from his campaign to place ads in a Chinese-owned newspaper registered as a foreign agent. However, the House Democrat now claims this was done “unknowingly” and says he is reviewing the cash transfers.

“If they are in any way affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party, they’ll never get anything from us again,” Suozzi said. “The CCP has tentacles trying to influence the distribution of information and disinformation throughout our society. There’s lesser-known examples like this and [China] has a very sophisticated effort.”

Suozzi, co-chair of a congressional caucus raising concerns over China’s persecution of Uyghur ethnic minorities, made the comments in an interview with the Washington Examiner after the outlet reached out to him with a list of questions about over $7,200 that his campaign dished out in February to a New York-based subsidiary of Sing Tao U.S. The payments to Sing Tao were earmarked under “print advertising” in New York.

That Chinese-owned newspaper was forced by the Biden administration in 2021 to register as a foreign agent engaged in “political activity,” according to records on file with the Department of Justice. The newspaper also reportedly shares ties to the Chinese Communist Party’s United Front Work Department, which, according to the U.S. government, coordinates the party’s intelligence gathering and influence operations overseas.

News of the Sing Tao payments is likely to open Suozzi up to hypocrisy accusations as he looks to hold on to his House seat in 2024. The China critic won a special election earlier this year to replace expelled New York Republican Rep. George Santos. Suozzi has blasted the CCP for “egregious attacks on democracy and human rights” and often takes aim at China for its surveillance and detainment of Uyghur Muslims in China’s autonomous Xinjiang region that the State Department in 2021 determined to constitute genocide.

The congressman has also previously said the United States has a duty to counter Beijing’s efforts to “expand its sphere of influence” and “sophisticated plan to dominate the world.”

Reached by the Washington Examiner, Suozzi said he “unknowingly” advertised with Sing Tao. The situation, he said, appears to show “how insidious” the CCP is.

“If I’m a congressman and I didn’t know about it, think about what’s happening to regular citizens on a regular basis,” he said.

Mike LiPetri, the Republican nominee set to face off this November against Suozzi in New York’s 3rd Congressional District, said Suozzi’s payments warrant scrutiny. The Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan elections tracker, rates the district as “likely Democrat” in 2024.

“NY-03 deserves a congressman who will stand up to China and its human rights violations, not line their communist pockets with cash that fuels their infiltration and influence-peddling schemes,” LiPetri, a former New York state assemblyman, said in a statement to the Washington Examiner.

Sing Tao U.S. is affiliated with a Hong Kong-based outlet said to have maintained leaders on China’s National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, a top CCP advisory body. Over half of Sing Tao’s content in 2021 was purchased by a company in southeastern China, DOJ filings show.

China’s government has one of the “world’s most restrictive media environments, relying on censorship to control information in the news, online, and on social media,” according to the Council on Foreign Relations, a think tank.

Sing Tao’s influence in the U.S. is under the spotlight following Newsweek reporting Sunday that its CEO helped organize a parade with New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat who has faced scrutiny for accepting CCP-linked donations.

But the Suozzi campaign’s willingness to cut checks to Sing Tao is no anomaly among officeholders.

The Washington Examiner reported last August that eight other lawmakers paid $41,500 to Sing Tao, prompting one lawmaker, Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), to say her aides were investigating the matter.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) paid Sing Tao in recent years and has touted doing so on social media. Another lawmaker who paid Sing Tao is Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY). There is no evidence these payments were made illegally, but they’ve raised eyebrows among some foreign policy experts focused on China issues.

“This may require a real bipartisan, top-down push inside the campaign industry to incorporate the Foreign Agents Registration Act into the due diligence process,” Richard Goldberg, senior adviser to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank, said.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Given the CCP’s influence campaign in the U.S., campaigns would be wise to issue written guidance to candidates so they “understand the risks associated with subsidizing or otherwise partnering with foreign government-controlled entities,” Goldberg told the Washington Examiner.

Sing Tao did not return a request for comment.