China

Grassley Questions DOJ on Biden Family Compliance with FARA

Published

4 years ago

November 12, 2020

On Monday, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Willia m Barr, to evaluate whether Hunter and James Biden should have registered as foreign agents for their business arrangements with the Chinese government-back energy company CEFC.

In the letter to Barr, Grassley is asking for details on what steps, if any, the Justice Department has taken to verify whether the Bidens complied with the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).

“FARA is an important statute that was designed not to prohibit activity but rather to require individuals to register with the DOJ if they are acting as an agent of a foreign government or enterprise to influence U.S. policy or public opinion. This helps ensure transparency and accountability in the public policy arena,” Grassley wrote.

Grassley noted that Ye Jianming, founder of CEFC, and Hunter Biden “formed a lucrative financial relationship that resulted in Hunter Biden receiving millions of dollars” while Ye and CEFC gained access to lucrative U.S. opportunities.

“The actions by Hunter Biden and James Biden on behalf of CEFC, Ye Jianming, and other officers connected to CEFC, potentially make them agents of the Chinese government,” Grassley wrote.

This is not Grassley’s first time raising concerns over the Justice Department’s FARA enforcement. In fact,

“Proper enforcement of, and compliance with, FARA remains a top priority of mine as foreign governments and enterprises continue to use agents within the United States as conduits to lobby for policy changes and engage in public relations activity for the benefit of foreign principals.”

You can follow Annaliese Levy on Twitter @AnnalieseLevy

China

House Report Uncovers DOJ Secretly Investigated Nonprofit Accused of Channeling Taxpayer Funds to Wuhan Lab

Published

60 minutes ago

December 3, 2024

Sara Carter Staff

A bombshell House committee report released Monday, after a two year investigation, revealed that the Department of Justice (DOJ) secretly initiated a grand jury investigation into EcoHealth Alliance, a U.S. nonprofit accused of channeling taxpayer funds to the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), the lab suspected of causing the COVID-19 pandemic.

The report, prepared by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, highlights concerns about EcoHealth’s grants, which allegedly funded gain-of-function research at the Chinese lab. Such research, aimed at enhancing viruses to study their potential risks, has been linked to theories suggesting the virus may have escaped from the lab. Efforts to access related records were reportedly obstructed by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Internal emails and documents included in the report reveal that the grand jury issued subpoenas for genetic sequences and correspondence between EcoHealth Alliance’s president, Dr. Peter Daszak, and Dr. Shi Zhengli, a WIV scientist known as the “bat lady” for her work on coronaviruses. One email from EcoHealth’s legal counsel advised omitting references to the DOJ investigation when addressing congressional document requests, underscoring the probe’s secrecy.

The report also criticizes EcoHealth Alliance’s failure to comply with grant requirements. NIH funding facilitated a $4 million project on bat coronaviruses, $1.4 million of which was funneled to WIV. NIH deputy director Dr. Lawrence Tabak admitted the grant supported gain-of-function research, leading to highly infectious virus modifications.

The committee’s findings claim these experiments violated biosafety protocols, and Daszak failed to adequately oversee the research. Calls to bar Daszak and EcoHealth from future funding were reinforced by bipartisan agreement within the subcommittee.

The New York Post writes that the report also evaluated U.S. pandemic response measures, describing prolonged lockdowns as harmful to the economy and public health, especially for younger Americans. Mask mandates and social distancing policies were criticized as “arbitrary” and unsupported by conclusive scientific evidence. Public health officials’ inconsistent messaging, particularly from Dr. Anthony Fauci, contributed to public mistrust, according to the subcommittee.