The Justice Department on Monday in a press conference highlighted three cases against Chinese intelligence agents two weeks before the midterm elections, amid concern from conservatives over politicized law enforcement under President Joe Biden.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said about the timing of the cases, “We bring cases when they’re ready, and that’s probably the simplest answer and most straightforward answer to that.”
The press conference came just hours after a report that federal and local law enforcement agencies held a call to discuss threats to the U.S. midterm elections.
Politico reported Monday that officials on the call discussed the “potential for violence in response to the spread of false narratives regarding the election process.” Officials, according to the report, said “election workers, including those working at polling stations, are likely to face threats and harassment from [extremists] both online and offline.”
Garland was asked about voter intimidation at the press conference and whether he was concerned.
“The Justice Department has an obligation to prevent, to guarantee a free and fair vote by everyone who is qualified to vote and will not permit voters to be intimidated,” he said.
Law enforcement leaders insisted they have been focused on threats presented by China.
“I think [these] cases make quite clear, we are unrelenting in our efforts to prevent the government of China from economic espionage from operating in the United States as foreign agents from trying to affect our rule of law, our judicial system, from trying to target and recruit Americans to help them,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said.
Assistant Attorney General Matt Olsen added, “So as the attorney general said, we have stayed very focused on the threat that the [People’s Republic of China] poses to our values, to our institutions.”
At least one of the cases they cited were the result of investigations that began prior to the Biden administration.
In one, two PRC intelligence officers were charged with trying to obstruct, influence, and impede the criminal prosecution of Huawai, a Chinese telecommunications company, by trying to recruit a U.S. law enforcement employee as an asset to give them confidential information about the prosecution. The employee worked as a double asset.
In another case, four individuals, including three PRC intelligence officers, used the cover of a fake Chinese think-tank to try to co-opt individuals in the United States to carry out the PRC’s mission. This included procuring technology and equipment from the U.S. and have it shipped to China, as well as stopping protests in the U.S. that would have been embarrassing to the Chinese government.
The third case involved seven individuals working on behalf of the PRC to force a U.S. resident to return to China using threats to and harassment of his family in the U.S. and China.
“As these cases demonstrate, the government of China sought to interfere with the rights and freedoms of individuals in the United States and to undermine our judicial system that protects those rights. They did not succeed,” Garland said.
Monaco noted that the case involving Huawei “exposes the interconnection between PRC intelligence officers and Chinese companies and it demonstrates once again why such companies, especially in the telecommunications industry, shouldn’t be trusted to securely handle our sensitive personal data and communications.”
“The Chinese government targets businesses of every size and in almost every sector from agriculture to green tech to semiconductors, the Chinese-American community, academia and state and local governments and our foreign partners around the world,” Wray said.
The press conference was met by disappointment from some on the left, who expressed desire for the DOJ to focus on former President Donald Trump instead.
Progressive podcaster Dash Dobrofsky tweeted:
Merrick Garland’s DOJ went public about a case of ‘Espionage, bribery & Obstruction of Justice’ that threatens the ‘rights & liberties’ of ‘every American.’ The perp they are targeting is the People’s Republic of China — not the Former US President who stole classified documents.’
Merrick Garland’s DOJ went public about a case of “Espionage, bribery & Obstruction of Justice” that threatens the “rights & liberties” of “every American.” The perp they are targeting is the People’s Republic of China — not the Former US President who stole classified documents.
— Dash Dobrofsky (@DashDobrofsky) October 24, 2022
One blogger tweeted: “I do wish the DOJ was as interested in former Presidents obstructing justice as they are in China…”
I do wish the DOJ was as interested in former Presidents obstructing justice as they are in China…
— Alan Bennett Ilagan (@alanilagan) October 24, 2022
Garland did field one question regarding the DOJ’s investigation into alleged classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago during the press conference. A reporter asked Garland whether he would commit to “transparency” about the investigation.
“This is an ongoing investigation so I’m not able to comment. We speak through our filings and the cases we bring. That is the only way we speak,” Garland claimed.
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