FIRST ON FOX : An official within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told colleagues that Vice President Kamala Harris’ decision to name Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate “feeds into” activities the People’s Republic of China (PRC) were conducting “with him and local government,” warning that Beijing could “target” him to exert influence on U.S. policy.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., launched an investigation in August into Walz’s alleged “longstanding” ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Last month, Comer subpoenaed DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for records relating to those alleged connections after a whistleblower notified the committee of the existence of a non-classified Microsoft Teams group chat among DHS employees, as well as additional intelligence reports that allegedly contained information regarding Walz’s alleged connections to the CCP.
COMER SUBPOENAS DHS FOR RECORDS RELATING TO WALZ’S ALLEGED TIES TO CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY
Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks during a campaign rally at Burns Park in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
On Tuesday, Comer penned a letter to Mayorkas, making public the fact that DHS has been “unresponsive to the subpoena.”
Now, Comer has unilaterally released a portion of DHS internal communications it received from the whistleblower.
“Walt’s [sic] got the Vp,” reads the message, with the identity of the sender redacted. “You all have no idea how this feeds into what prc has been doing here with him and local gov.”
The official added, “It’s seriously a line of the intel. Target someone who is perceived they can get to DC.”
DHS employee message on Microsoft Teams provided to House Oversight Committee by a whistleblower.
“The Committee is releasing the above message as an example of communications within DHS’s possession in which DHS officials express concern about the CCP targeting politicians and their influence operations at the state and local levels — and specifically, concerns about the CCP’s influence operations as they related to Governor Walz,” Comer wrote in a letter to Mayorkas Tuesday.
Comer explained that the message was sent using a Microsoft Teams group chat among DHS employees, entitled “NST NFT Bi-Weekly Sync,” the same chat identified in Comer’s subpoena.
Meanwhile, Comer said that a whistleblower provided further information to the committee that indicates officials from DHS’ Office of Intelligence and Analysis and Homeland Security Investigations have been involved in the agency’s investigative and/or intelligence work connected with the CCP, the state of Minnesota and Walz.
Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, speaks during a hearing in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, March 20, 2024. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“The Committee’s concerns surrounding CCP elite capture operations seeking to influence public officials like Governor Walz have intensified given recent reports about Governor Walz’s extensive travel history, unusual interactions in the People’s Republic of China, and recent inability to answer basic questions about his involvement in China,” Comer wrote.
Comer is also subpoenaing all intelligence information reports and regional intelligence notes from November 2023 to present related to Walz.
Last month, Comer revealed that Walz had “engaged and partnered with” Chinese entities, making him “susceptible” to the CCP’s strategy of “elite capture,” which seeks to co-opt influential figures in elite political, cultural and academic circles to “influence the United States to the benefit of the communist regime and the detriment of Americans.”
HOUSE OVERSIGHT INVESTIGATING WALZ OVER ‘LONGSTANDING CONNECTIONS’ TO CHINA
Comer has pointed to reports that Walz, while working as a teacher in the 1990s, organized a trip to China for Alliance High School students. The costs were reportedly “paid by the Chinese government.”
Comer is investigating Walz’s 1994-created private company named “Educational Travel Adventures, Inc.,” which coordinated annual student trips to China until 2003 and was led by Walz.
Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz shakes hands with comedian George Lopez prior to Walz speaking during a campaign event at Trevor Browne High School on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024 in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
The company reportedly “dissolved four days after he took congressional office in 2007.”
Comer said Walz has traveled to China an estimated “30 times.”
Comer also pointed to Walz’s time in Congress, when he served as a fellow at the Macau Polytechnic University — a Chinese institution that characterizes itself as having a “long-held devotion to and love for the motherland.”
In 2019, Walz headlined the 27th National Convention for the U.S. China Peoples Friendship Association in Minnesota. Walz also spoke alongside the president of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries. A year later, the State Department exposed that organization as “a Beijing-based organization tasked with co-opting subnational governments,” including efforts to “directly and malignly influence state and local leaders to promote the PRC’s global agenda,” the House Oversight Committee revealed.
WALZ APPOINTEE WITH APPARENT CCP TIES COULD EXPOSE POTENTIAL VEEP’S NATIONAL SECURITY WEAKNESS, LAWMAKER SAYS
Additionally, in March of this year, Walz had a meeting with Consul General Zhao Jian to discuss “China-U.S. relations and subnational cooperation.”
Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks at a campaign stop on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
As for the subpoena, Comer said that DHS has been “unresponsive” and is not operating in “good faith.”
Comer said the DHS “did not produce responsive documents.”
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Last week, Comer said he spoke with DHS’ senior advisor for legislative affairs during an Oct. 21 phone call, but said that official “offered no substantive information, nor any assurance that substantive information would be forthcoming.”
“DHS has been wholly unresponsive, and the Committee is considering all available options,” Comer wrote. “The documents covered by the Committee’s subpoena will inform the Committee’s understanding of CCP political warfare against the United States and how effectively federal agencies are countering the communist regime’s infiltration operations.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris-Walz campaign and DHS for comment.