Indictment Of Gov. Hochul’s Aide Shows Red China Is No. 1 Threat
Recent indictments have revealed significant foreign interference in the American political system, with startling implications for both major parties. The first indictment involved two employees from the Russian-backed news outlet Russia Today (RT), who are accused of secretly funding conservative influencers in the U.S. to disseminate pro-Russian propaganda. This arrangement, which was orchestrated through a Tennessee-based media firm, caught several conservative pundits off guard, resulting in the removal of their channels from YouTube.
In a more alarming development, a second indictment exposed a Chinese campaign infiltrating high levels of the Democratic Party. Linda Sun, a former deputy chief of staff for New York Governor Kathy Hochul, has been charged with acting as an agent of the Chinese government and engaging in numerous activities that compromised the state’s political integrity, including obstructing Taiwanese representatives and facilitating unauthorized communication with Chinese officials. This incident exemplifies the broader concern regarding potential Chinese influence over various Democrats, further highlighted by historical ties of other party members to suspected Chinese operatives.
The situation raises serious questions about the Democratic Party’s vulnerability to foreign influence, particularly from China, and suggests a troubling ongoing threat to U.S. political integrity.
The Chinese have compromised the Democrat Party in ways Democrats dream the Russians have infiltrated Republicans.
Two indictments this week shook the nation, revealing the lengths to which foreign adversaries have gone to compromise the integrity of the American political system. One indictment, however, was not like the other. In fact, one was far worse in just about every way imaginable.
On Wednesday, an indictment handed down by the Department of Justice (DOJ) exposed a network of shadowy Russian media operatives allegedly duping half a dozen conservative pundits with large followings into receiving millions to “pump pro-Russia propaganda and disinformation across social media.” Federal prosecutors pressed charges against two employees of the Russian-backed news outlet Russia Today (RT), claiming they funneled $10 million to a Tennessee company that paid conservative influencers, who were unaware of its Moscow origins.
In other words, a few conservatives who created their usual online content with the support of a Tennessee firm (apparently Tenet Media) were left completely in the dark about the source of the original financing but are now being tarred in the press as Russian assets. By Thursday, YouTube had stripped Tenet Media’s channel (which hosted the aforementioned popular right-leaning figures) from its website, just two months before Election Day. According to Forbes, YouTube nuked all four channels operated by conservative commentator Lauren Chen, despite Chen’s not having been convicted or even charged with anything.
Yet the Russian interference effort to buy off a couple of oblivious influencers pales in comparison to Chinese operations that are targeting elected leaders who are actually in office.
Another indictment unsealed this week revealed the far more devastating details of a foreign rival compromising one of the most powerful governorships in the country. On Tuesday, the former deputy chief of staff for New York Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul was charged with a laundry list of offences, including crimes under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Federal prosecutors say Linda Sun, whose 14 years in the state government also included time under Democrat Gov. Andrew Cuomo, was actually working on behalf of the Chinese government. Sun was charged along with her husband, Chris Hu, for myriad financial crimes compromising the governor’s office in the nation’s fourth most populous state.
According to prosecutors, Sun “engaged in numerous political activities in the interests of the PRC and the CCP.” Her actions included:
Blocking representatives of the Taiwanese government from having access to high-level New York State officers; changing high-level New York State officers’ messaging regarding issues of importance to the PRC and the CCP; obtaining official New York State proclamations for PRC government representatives without proper authorization; attempting to facilitate a trip to the PRC by a high-level New York State politician and arranging meetings for visiting delegations from the PRC government with NYS government officials.
Sun had apparently even sent “unauthorized invitation letters” to “facilitate travel by PRC government officials into the United States for meetings with New York State government officials.” Sun’s access to New York politicians for nearly a decade and a half presented Beijing a prime opportunity to become even more embedded in the Democrats’ machine that is raking in millions of dollars from corporations with Chinese interests.
Hochul joins a growing list of prominent Democrats plausibly compromised by the Chinese Communist Party, up to and including President Joe Biden, according to one of the First Family’s own former business partners.
[READ:[READ:Democrats Have A China Problem]
Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., became an emblem of Chinese influence within the Democrat Party four years ago when news surfaced of a close and likely intimate relationship with a since-vanished Chinses spy named Christine Fang. The California lawmaker was kicked off the House Intelligence Committee last year when former Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., briefly became speaker.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who died last September and served on the Senate Intelligence Committee, had previously employed a driver for 20 years whose cover was blown as a Chinese agent in 2018.
The Democrats’ new vice presidential nominee, meanwhile, maintains a bizarre fascination with China that includes an estimated 30 visits, some of which were paid for by the Beijing government. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz even got married on the fifth anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, leading Republicans to investigate his ties to the Chinese government.
“It’s very strange,” Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said on Fox News last month. “The House is going to investigate it now. … He got married on the anniversary of Tiananmen Square. He’s gone to China. He’s taught in China. He’s got deep connections to China.”
And so do many more in the Democrat Party, as evidenced by one of the Justice Department’s latest indictments this week.
Tristan Justice is the western correspondent for The Federalist and the author of Social Justice Redux, a conservative newsletter on culture, health, and wellness. He has also written for The Washington Examiner and The Daily Signal. His work has also been featured in Real Clear Politics and Fox News. Tristan graduated from George Washington University where he majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow him on Twitter at @JusticeTristan or contact him at [email protected]. Sign up for Tristan’s email newsletter here.
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