Governor Walz’s Secret Ties to China Exposed—House Committee Demands Answers

House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) has launched a high-profile investigation into Minnesota Governor Timothy Walz, who was recently named as Kamala Harris’s running mate.

This investigation is driven by increasing concerns about Governor Walz’s alleged connections to Chinese Communist Party (CCP) entities and officials.

In a forceful letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray, Chairman Comer requested a thorough review of all information, documents, and communications related to Governor Walz’s interactions with CCP-affiliated organizations and officials.

The investigation will also scrutinize any advisories or warnings the FBI may have provided to Governor Walz regarding the CCP’s influence operations targeting U.S. political figures. "The CCP has been working to undermine the United States through coordinated influence and infiltration campaigns that target all aspects of American life, including our elected officials," said Chairman Comer.

"Americans should be very concerned that Governor Walz, Kamala Harris’s vice-presidential running mate, has had a longstanding and close relationship with China."

"Mr. Walz has traveled to China numerous times, served as a fellow at a Chinese institution that expresses loyalty to the CCP, and spoke alongside the President of a Chinese organization that the State Department identified as a CCP front to influence local leaders. Recently, FBI briefers informed the Committee that the Bureau’s Foreign Influence Task Force is investigating CCP activities similar to China’s involvement with Governor Walz. The American people deserve to fully understand the extent of Governor Walz’s ties to China," Comer added.

According to the press release:

“Reports suggest that Governor Walz has troubling ties to the People’s Republic of China (PRC). In 1993, as a teacher, Mr. Walz organized a trip to the PRC with Alliance High School students, with expenses covered by the Chinese government, according to the *Star-Herald*.

In 1994, Mr. Walz founded a private company called 'Educational Travel Adventures, Inc.,' which arranged annual student trips to the PRC until 2003 and was led by Mr. Walz. The corporation was reportedly dissolved four days after he took office as a congressman in 2007. Since his first visit to China, Governor Walz is estimated to have traveled to the PRC about 30 times.

While in Congress, Mr. Walz also served as a fellow at Macau Polytechnic University, a Chinese institution that describes itself as having a 'long-held devotion to and love for the motherland.'

Governor Walz also spoke alongside the President of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, which the Department of State later revealed 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.'"

Additionally, Representative Jim Banks (R-IN) has called on Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to immediately investigate Governor Walz’s repeated visits to China during his service with the Nebraska and Minnesota National Guards.

In his letter to the Pentagon, Banks expressed serious concerns about whether Walz, a former senior enlisted service member, properly reported his frequent foreign travels, which could have compromised national security. Walz, who served in the National Guard for nearly 24 years, reportedly made nearly 30 trips to China between 1989 and 2005, many of which occurred while he held a security clearance as part of his military duties.

“He and his wife also organized annual trips to China from 1994 to 2003. During this entire period, Walz remained a service member in either the Nebraska or Minnesota National Guards and likely held a clearance for much or all of this time. Walz stated in 2016 that he had traveled to China nearly 30 times; it is probable that at least a dozen of these trips occurred while he was still a guardsman,” the letter said.