NW Kentucky News

House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer has issued a subpoena to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The subpoena seeks intelligence reports, documents, and communications related to Governor Timothy Walz’s connections to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). This action follows whistleblower disclosures received by the Committee.

“The Committee has recently received whistleblower disclosures informing the Committee of serious concern among Department of Homeland personnel regarding a longstanding connection between the CCP and Minnesota Governor Timothy James Walz,” wrote Chairman James Comer. “Specifically, through whistleblower disclosures, the Committee has learned of a non-classified, Microsoft Teams group chat among DHS employees—titled ‘NST NFT Bi-Weekly Sync’—that contains information about Governor Walz that is relevant to the Committee’s investigation. The Committee has also learned that further relevant information regarding Governor Walz has been memorialized in both classified and unclassified documents in the control of DHS.”

The Oversight Committee is investigating how federal agencies are addressing the CCP’s influence campaign in the United States. During briefings with over twenty federal agencies, it was revealed that the CCP aims to influence subnational government leaders, including state governors. In August, Chairman Comer initiated an investigation into Governor Walz following reports of his connections to CCP entities and officials.

“The Committee’s investigation of the CCP—begun long before Governor Walz was elevated to be the vice-presidential candidate for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris—seeks to understand the extent of the CCP’s infiltration and influence campaign and to identify legislative reforms to combat CCP political warfare targeting prominent Americans for elite capture. If a state governor and major political party’s nominee for Vice President of the United States has been a witting or unwitting participant in the CCP’s efforts to weaken our nation, this would strongly suggest that there are alarming weaknesses in the federal government’s effort to defend the United States from the CCP’s political warfare that must be urgently addressed. The information required of DHS by the Committee’s subpoena will inform the Committee’s understanding of how successful the CCP has been in waging political warfare in and against the United States, how effectively federal agencies are addressing the communist regime’s campaign, and what reforms are necessary to counter this threat,” concluded Chairman James Comer.

Chairman Comer requires DHS to produce unredacted records from July 1, 2024, onwards from a Microsoft Teams group chat titled “NST NFT Bi-Weekly Sync” referring or relating to Minnesota Governor Timothy J. Walz. Additionally, all Intelligence Information Reports and Regional Intelligence Notes from November 2023 onwards related to Governor Walz must be provided.