Exclusive: Ad Slams Sen. John Hoeven for His Silence on Chinese Land Purchase in North Dakota

WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 04: U.S. Sen. Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) questions Secretary of Homeland
Kevin Dietsch/Getty
Wendell Husebø

An ad slamming Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) for being silent on Chinese land purchases in North Dakota was launched statewide in North Dakota on Saturday.

Advance Liberty PAC, an American first oriented fund, is responsible for the $100,000 ad buy, which will run from October 1st through 20th.

“North Dakota voted for Donald Trump not Joe Biden. So why is John Hoeven acting like Joe Biden’s manservant. Hoeven championed Biden’s radical spending bill that crushed North Dakota families. The Chinese infiltrating North Dakota? Hoeven was silent for months,” the ad states.  “No more excuses.”

Advance Liberty

A Chinese company, named the Fefang Group, bought 300 acres in North Dakota and reportedly intends to build a corn milling plant. But the land is near Grand Forks Air Base, which has raised national security questions for residents in Grand Forks. Those questions were initially downplayed by Hoeven as a local issue, according to State Rep. Rick Becker, who is challenging Hoeven in the Senate race as an independent.

“Dr. Rick Becker is North Dakota’s most conservative leader. Rick Becker is a true American patriot who fight for us against the DC elite,” the ad continues. “Let’s vote for Rick Becker, a patriot. Not a politician.”

Becker is challenging Hoeven as an independent after coming close to defeating the senator at the state’s convention. Speaking with Breitbart News, Becker said the national security breach is a “failure of leadership.”

“He was silent about it for a great many months, perhaps years,” Becker said of Hoeven at the end of 2021. “Finally at the end of April, he finally makes a statement. His position is this is a local issue. And the city commission in Grand Forks North Dakota needs to do its due diligence to ensure Fefang has addressed any security concerns they [city commission] have.”

The Chinese investment has since come under review by the Treasury’s Committee on Foreign Investment (CFIUS), an interagency board that reviews real estate transactions involving foreign investment in the U.S. with national security implications.

Both North Dakota Senators, Hoeven and Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND), are currently weighing a bill that would block China from purchasing U.S. farmland.

“If it weren’t the citizens of North Dakota rinsing up, sounding the alarm, he [Hoeven] would have continued to be in the shadows in the back, very happy, very content to do yet another agreement with the Chinese. He has a long history of working with the Chinese” Confucius Institutes, Becker added.

Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.