Republican Karina Lipsman Calls for Investigation into Democrat Don Beyer for Staffer’s Alleged Ties to Chinese Embassy

Republican Karina Lipsman, running against Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) in Virginia’s Eight Congressional District, called for her opponent to be investigated and kicked off his congressional committee following the report of his staffer having ties to the Chinese Embassy.

“I have been part of investigations on sensitive national security subjects before, and it’s very clear to me that, based on what we know, this matter must be thoroughly investigated by Congress,” the Republican said in response to the news Beyer fired a staffer after she allegedly contacted other congressional staff members and invited them to meetings with Chinese embassy personnel.

On Friday, the National Review reported that a veteran aide and scheduler, Barbara Hamlett, was fired after an investigation by the House Sergeant at Arms looked into allegations that she sent emails, placed phone calls, and even showed up at the offices of other congressional members to invite staff to meetings with Chinese embassy staff.

The SAA contacted Breyer’s office on Tuesday, saying they were aware of two meetings the congressman’s staffer set up Charlie Palmer Steak restaurant near Capitol Hill and instructed the lawmaker not to take any action toward her until they could notify federal counterintelligence officials.

Following the SAA’s consultation with counterintelligence officials, the Democrat fired Hamlett after his office conducted their own internal investigation and found that Hamlett had attempted to set up meetings with at least two congressional Republican offices.

Beyer’s deputy chief of staff, Aaron Fritschner, said in a statement that the congressman was “deeply upset” at Hamlett’s alleged ties with the Chinese embassy and that the congressman would “remain a fierce critic of China’s record, continue to oppose the CCP’s totalitarian repression of its citizens, and hold himself and his staff to the highest professional and ethical standards.”

Lipsman noted that Beyers’ situation is similar to that of Rep. Eric Swalwell, who came under fire in 2020 after it was revealed he had a long-running affair with a woman named Fang Fang — whom intelligence community officials identified as a Chinese Communist Party spy.

“Don Beyer should be removed from the House Ways and Means Committee, which handles international trade and all free trade agreements, as well as the Joint Economic Committee,” Lipsman explained. “The extent of Beyer’s office’s ties to the Chinese government needs to be determined, so the level of national security risk can be determined. His office has clearly been compromised.”

“Again, I’ve held top-level security clearances for years, and this situation is well within my experience. It needs to be treated extremely seriously,” Lipsman added. The Republican has held various positions in the U.S. defense and intelligence communities for 14 years and has held security clearances exceeding Top Secret.

Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.