A staffer in the British Parliament was arrested earlier this year on suspicions he was spying for China, a <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/british-national-arrested-suspicion-china-spy-parliamentary-researcher-xrtbrw86m#:~:text=Counterterrorism%20police%20arrested%20the%20researcher,espionage%2Drelated%20offences%20in%20March.&amp;text=The%20researcher%20is%20a%20Briton,with%20Beijing%2C%20for%20several%20years." target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from The Sunday Times revealed. 
The suspect, a man in his late 20s who was a Parliamentary researcher, was reportedly “linked” with several Members of Parliament from the Conservative Party who had access to highly sensitive information, according to the report. The man was arrested in mid-March along with an additional suspect who is in his 30s.
“The mask has truly slipped,” Paddy McGuinness, the U.K.’s former deputy national security adviser told, the outlet.&#8221;This isn’t about China objecting to interference in their internal affairs as they so often claim. Rather they are messing in ours, with a casual disregard for our democracy and our sovereignty.”
Both suspects were charged with violating Section One of Britain’s Official Secrets Act 1911, which prohibits sharing information or communications that may be “prejudicial to the safety or interests of the state” and “calculated to be or …  intended to be directly or indirectly useful to an enemy,” respectively, the Times notes. 
Some Conservative MPs that were reportedly linked to the researcher include the U.K.’s minister of state for security, Tom Tugendhat, and the chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, Alicia Kearns. However, it’s believed the alleged spy only worked with Tugendhat prior to his role as security minister, POLITICO Europe <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/rishi-sunak-raises-significant-concerns-on-china-spy-in-parliament/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reports</a>. 
“It is inevitable the Chinese Communist party (CCP) would target and seek to undermine parliament’s leading voices who have demonstrated the ability to constrain the CCP’s ambitions,” a source close to Kearns said, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/sep/09/parliamentary-researcher-who-spied-for-china-arrested" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to The Guardian. 
The researcher had a parliamentary pass and reportedly worked on international relations policies with various MPs – including China-centered policies. According to the Times, prior to his work as a researcher at the Palace of Westminster, the suspect spent time working and living in China. During that period, officials say he may have been recruited by the Chinese government as a sleeper agent with the goal of working his way into political groups critical of Beijing. 
According to a government source, the suspect may have even changed the minds of some legislators. “I’m pretty sure he [the researcher] turned some backbenchers from China hawks into being apathetic about Beijing,&#8221; the source told the Times.
U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak brought up the revelation with the prime minister of China, Li Qang, at the G20 summit in India, telling reporters that he conveyed “very strong concerns about any interference in our parliamentary democracy, which is obviously unacceptable,” POLITICO Europe <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/rishi-sunak-raises-significant-concerns-on-china-spy-in-parliament/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. 
“We discussed a range of things and I raised areas where there are disagreements,” the British PM said. “And this is just part of our strategy to protect ourselves, protect our values and our interests, to align our approach to China with that of our allies like America, Australia, Canada, Japan and others, but also to engage where it makes sense,” he added.
A government source told the Times that the news represents a “major escalation by China,” and that the U.K. has “never seen anything like this before.” 
A <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/chinese-gate-crashers-at-u-s-bases-spark-espionage-concerns-cdef8187" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from The Wall Street Journal last week outlined over 100 instances of alleged Chinese tourists attempting to gain access to U.S. military bases and installations. According to officials cited by the outlet, the “tourists” were actually performing espionage and attempting to take photographs and get information about security practices at the locations. 
“The advantage the Chinese have is they are willing to throw people at collection in large numbers,” Emily Harding, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told the Journal. “If a few of them get caught, it will be very difficult for the U.S. government to prove anything beyond trespassing, and those who don’t get caught are likely to collect something useful.”

Palace of Westminster

British Parliament Worker Arrested Amid Allegations Of Spying For China

Communist China

Espionage

Global Politics

United Kingdom

World

Two U.S. Navy sailors were arrested on national security-related charges related to allegedly sending sensitive military information to the Chinese Communist Party, federal officials said on Thursday.
“These individuals stand accused of violating the commitments they made to protect the United States and betraying the public trust, to the benefit of the [People’s Republic of China] government,” Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, said in a <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/two-us-navy-servicemembers-arrested-transmitting-military-information-peoples-republic-china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">news release</a>.
U.S. Navy Sailor Jinchao Wei, an active-duty machinist’s mate on the amphibious U.S.S. Essex assault ship stationed at Naval Base San Diego, was arrested on Wednesday for espionage-related charges upon arriving for work at the homeport of the Navy&#8217;s Pacific Fleet in California.
Wei, 22, was indicted for conspiracy to send national defense information to a Chinese intelligence officer who allegedly communicated with Wei using encrypted messages to provide photos, videos and documents about the U.S.S. Essex and other Navy ships as early as February 2022, according to U.S. officials. Wei allegedly disclosed the locations of various Navy ships, defensive weapons, technical and mechanical manuals to the intelligence officer in exchange for thousands of dollars over the course of the conspiracy. The sailor also allegedly passed along information about the number of U.S. Marines training during previously scheduled international maritime warfare exercises.
&#8220;When a soldier or sailor chooses cash over country, and hands over national defense information in an ultimate act of betrayal, the United States will aggressively investigate and prosecute,&#8221; U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman for the Southern District of California, said.
Authorities also arrested  U.S. Navy Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao, a sailor at Naval Base Ventura County in California, on a charge of conspiracy and receipt of a bribe, for allegedly transmitting sensitive military information to a Chinese official posing as a maritime economic researcher.
Zhao, 26, allegedly communicated with an unnamed Chinese intelligence officer from August 2021 through May 2023 by &#8220;surreptitiously recording&#8221; photographs and videos of classified military information and then transmitting to the foreign officer, authorities said.
According to a news release, the Chinese intelligence officer paid Zhao approximately $14,866 in exchange for classified controlled operational plans for a large-scale U.S. military exercise involving Naval force movements, amphibious landings, and maritime operations and logistics in the Indo-Pacific Region. An indictment against Zhao further alleges the Petty Officer exchanged photographs of electrical diagrams and blueprints for a radar system stationed on a U.S. military base in Okinawa, Japan.
“By sending this sensitive military information to an intelligence officer employed by a hostile foreign state, the defendant betrayed his sacred oath to protect our country and uphold the Constitution,” said U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada for the Central District of California. “Unlike the vast majority of U.S. Navy personnel who serve the nation with honor, distinction and courage, Mr. Zhao chose to corruptly sell out his colleagues and his country.”
Zhao faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison if convicted.
Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen said during a Thursday press briefing reported by <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/2-us-sailors-national-security-china-bribe-charges" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox News</a> that the threat from China &#8220;stands apart&#8221; on the world stage to the national security of the U.S.
&#8220;China is unrivaled in the audacity and the range of its malign efforts to subvert our laws,&#8221; Olsen said Thursday.

President Biden Delivers Remarks At Naval Base Point Loma

Two U.S. Navy Sailors Arrested On Espionage Charges Involving Alleged Ties To China

Two U.S. Navy Sailors Arrested On Charges Involving Alleged Ties To China

China

Department of Justice

National Security

U.S. Navy

The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/communist-china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chinese spy balloon</a> that President Joe Biden allowed to fly over the U.S. earlier this year was reportedly carrying American-made hardware to capture reconnaissance imagery.
The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/chinese-balloon-used-american-tech-to-spy-on-americans-2e3f5039" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that the multiple federal agencies discovered that the balloon was &#8220;crammed with commercially available U.S. gear, some of it for sale online, and interspersed with more specialized Chinese sensors and other equipment to collect photos, video and other information to transmit to China.&#8221;
The report also said that the spy balloon had large solar panels to power it and that it was able to capture &#8220;radar data.&#8221;
China has threatened the U.S. against making details from its investigation into the balloon public, claiming that they will be forced to respond in a harsh manner.
The Biden administration has so far cowered to China&#8217;s demands and has not shared details from the investigation with the public, even though the U.S. has a history of doing so with other nations.
Republican senators have called out the Biden administration over its refusal to show the public what China was flying over sensitive U.S. military installations.
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In a letter to White House earlier this month, the senators wrote in-part:
<blockquote>In your State of the Union address this year, you promised the American people that you would protect the United States from the PRC&#8217;s threats to our sovereignty. While four months have passed since a Chinese surveillance balloon was allowed to fly across the United States, your administration has yet to provide the American people a full accounting of how this spy platform was allowed to traverse across sovereign U.S. territory, what the balloon carried, and what it collected during its mission. Your administration has also not taken appropriate steps to hold the PRC accountable for this flagrant violation of U.S. sovereignty. As such, we urge you to immediately direct all relevant administration officials to release information, as appropriate, to the American public regarding the Chinese spy balloon.</blockquote>
The senators who <a href="https://www.cramer.senate.gov/news/press-releases/sen-cramer-colleagues-call-out-biden-administration-for-sidestepping-spy-balloon-inquiry" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signed</a> the letter were Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Rick Scott (R-FL), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Eric Schmitt (R-MO), Ted Budd, (R-NC), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), Jim Risch (R-ID), John Cornyn (R-TX), James Lankford (R-OK), Susan Collins (R-ME), Jerry Moran (R-KS), and Bill Hagerty (R-TN).

Recovery of High Altitude Surveillance Balloon Off South Carolina Coast

New Information Revealed About Chinese Spy Balloon That Crossed U.S.: Report

Biden Administration

A Moscow court extended the pre-trial detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich by at least another three months after Russian authorities arrested the American journalist on espionage charges.
Gershkovich, 31, was arrested while reporting in Yekaterinburg, located in the Ural Mountains, on espionage charges back in March and could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted. Investigators accused Gershkovich of acting on instructions from U.S. officials by collecting state secret information involving the Russian military, which the journalist, his employer, and U.S. officials have all denied.
&#8220;By the decision of the Lefortovsky District Court of Moscow dated May 23, 2023, the term of detention in respect of Evan Gershkovich, accused of committing a crime under Article 276 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, was extended for three months and one day, that is, until August 30, 2023,&#8221; the court decision <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/evan-gershkovichs-pre-trial-detention-extended-three-months-rcna85797" target="_blank" rel="noopener">read</a>.
Russian news agency TASS <a href="https://t.me/tass_agency/193157" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that Federal Security Service (FSB) investigators requested the Lefortovo Court of Moscow extend Gershkovich&#8217;s detention.
The Wall Street Journal said the outlet was &#8220;deeply disappointed&#8221; in the court&#8217;s decision.
&#8220;Today, our colleague, and distinguished journalist, Evan Gershkovich, appeared for a pre-trial hearing in a Moscow court,&#8221; the statement <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/investigators-ask-russian-court-to-extend-evan-gershkovichs-pretrial-detention-d5281ffb" target="_blank" rel="noopener">read</a>. &#8220;While we expected there would be no change to Evan&#8217;s wrongful detention, we are deeply disappointed. The accusations are demonstrably false, and we continue to demand his immediate release.&#8221;
Legal experts told the outlet that Russia&#8217;s Criminal Procedure Code could permit defendants facing espionage charges to be detained for up to 12 months before trial begins.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told CNN that Gershkovich &#8220;shouldn&#8217;t be detained at all,&#8221; calling for Russian authorities to release the reporter immediately.
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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/putin-authorized-wall-street-journal-reporter-arrest-spying-charges-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">formally declared</a> last month that Russian authorities had wrongfully detained Gershkovich, giving federal officials additional resources to secure his release, including providing the State Department access to &#8220;exert pressure on Moscow, monitor intelligence, build diplomatic coalitions, exert media pressure and fight for regular consular access.&#8221;
Blinken announced the official classification, giving control to the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs at the State Department.
&#8220;Journalism is not a crime,&#8221; Vedant Patel, a State Department spokesperson, told NBC in a statement. &#8220;We condemn the Kremlin&#8217;s continued repression of independent voices in Russia and its ongoing war against the truth.&#8221;
Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly authorized Kremlin officials to arrest Gershkovich.
Sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that Putin&#8217;s arrest of the reporter marks &#8220;the growing influence of Kremlin hardliners who push for deepening a confrontation with Washington they view as irreversible.&#8221;
The Russian Foreign Ministry claimed the United States was politicizing Gershokovich&#8217;s detention, saying, &#8220;It is unacceptable for officials in Washington and the Western media to whip up a stir with the clear intention of giving this case a political coloring.&#8221;
Gershkovich became the first American journalist arrested on espionage charges since the end of the Cold War.

RUSSIA-US-JOURNALIST

WSJ Reporter Arrested In Russia Has Pre-Trial Detention Extended By Three Months

Russia

U.S.

Wall Street Journal

Federal authorities arrested a U.S. citizen on Tuesday accused of spying for the Chinese government by coordinating with Chinese Communist Party officials to share information on political dissidents in Boston, Massachusetts, from 2018 to 2022.
Litang Liang has been indicted by a grand jury for acting as an agent of a foreign government without notice to the U.S. attorney general, according to <a href="https://www.universalhub.com/images/2023/liang-indictment.pdf">court documents</a> reported by the Boston Globe.
Liang, 63, allegedly spent four years spying on local Chinese communities around Boston neighborhoods by turning over lists of names and photographs to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) — and made attempts to organize rallies supporting Taiwan&#8217;s reunification with mainland China and counter-protests against pro-democracy dissidents.
&#8220;Liang communicated with [People&#8217;s Republic of China] government officials — knowing them to be PRC government officials — in several ways,&#8221; the indictment alleges. &#8220;These included telephone calls and messaging using the social media application WeChat,&#8221; a PRC-based communication app that stores all messages on servers outside the United States.
The affidavit alleges instances involving Liang reporting a student who destroyed a PRC flag to Chinese officials, inquiring about the &#8220;political standing&#8221; of a local lawyer to place the professional on a &#8220;blacklist,&#8221; and other informant activity about local Chinese family associations in New England and New York.
Liang has also been accused of coordinating with United Front Work Department, a CCP committee that targets agencies, social organizations, businesses, universities, research institutes, and individuals to further China&#8217;s goal, court documents say.
Frances Hui, policy and advocacy coordinator for the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation, organized a rally in 2019 opposing the government of Hong Kong&#8217;s proposed bill that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China.
Hiu said Liang&#8217;s actions over the past years were &#8220;definitely nerve-wracking to just learn all about what he has done in the past years, and especially to the people that participated in the rally that I organized in August of 2019.&#8221;
&#8220;I saw all of these threats coming through the WeChat groups that we were overseeing,&#8221; Hui told <a href="https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/brighton-man-accused-of-helping-chinese-government-spy-on-opponents-in-boston-area/3041681/">NBC10 Boston</a> on Tuesday. &#8220;There were gun threats and people threatening to bring guns — like firearms — to the rallies, and to shoot me, even.&#8221;
Hui urged dissidents from Hong Kong to pay attention to the alleged organized spy activity.
&#8220;I think that we just have to wake up to this and realize that this is the trans-national repression that we are facing under China&#8217;s extensive rule.&#8221;
Liang faces up to 15 years in prison.

Protesters Call For Boycott of China

Chinese Government Spy Arrested In Boston, Court Docs Say

US Citizen Spying For Chinese Government Arrested, Court Docs Say

Boston

Chinese Communist Party

American officials are concerned that <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chinese</a> technology at ports across the country could provide the communist nation <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/espionage" target="_blank" rel="noopener">insights</a> about <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/supply-chain" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shipping</a> traffic and <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/national-security" target="_blank" rel="noopener">national defense</a> activities, according to a Sunday <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/pentagon-sees-giant-cargo-cranes-as-possible-chinese-spying-tools-887c4ade" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from The Wall Street Journal.
Cranes and large steel structures manufactured by Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries, also known as ZPMC, contain sensors that monitor the destination of shipping containers which move through American ports, the WSJ reported. Defense authorities have voiced concern that the Chinese-owned engineering company may be offering the Chinese Communist Party data regarding items shipped for the purpose of American military operations.
“Cranes can be the new Huawei,” former National Counterintelligence and Security Center Director Bill Evanina told the outlet, comparing the infrastructure to products <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bipartisan-group-of-senators-introduce-bill-to-ban-chinese-telecom-giant-huawei" target="_blank" rel="noopener">manufactured</a> by the Shenzhen-based telecommunications company. “It’s the perfect combination of legitimate business that can also masquerade as clandestine intelligence collection.”
Evanina added that the cranes could be remotely controlled by adversarial actors seeking to disrupt the flow of goods from American shipping facilities.
Ports in Virginia, South Carolina, and Maryland which are sometimes used by nearby military bases have recently acquired new cranes from ZPMC. FBI agents reportedly uncovered information-gathering technology aboard a ship delivering ZPMC cranes to the Port of Baltimore in 2021.
The defense spending <a href="https://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20221205/BILLS-117hres_-SUS.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bill</a> passed by Congress at the end of last year directs the United States Maritime Administration and Department of Homeland Security to conduct an unclassified study to “assess whether there are cybersecurity or national security threats posed by foreign manufactured cranes at United States ports.” ZPMC claims to control 70% of the worldwide crane market, while one unnamed American official told The Wall Street Journal that some 80% of ship-to-shore cranes at ports in the United States are manufactured by the firm.
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning dismissed the revelations from The Wall Street Journal as “complete paranoia” during a Monday press briefing in Beijing, according to a <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/china-america-zpmc-cranes-ports-national-security-1785743" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from Newsweek, and said the concerns are &#8220;misleading to the American public.&#8221;
Reports of the possible spy cranes come shortly after at least one Chinese surveillance balloon recently traversed the continental United States. The vessel crossed Montana, the location of many defense assets and missile silos, then <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/chinese-spy-balloon-flies-out-of-montana-and-over-new-u-s-state" target="_blank" rel="noopener">traveled</a> over states such as Kansas and Missouri before the object was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-military-shoots-down-chinese-spy-balloon-after-biden-let-it-travel-across-country" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shot down</a> by the American military off the coast of the Carolinas. The balloon was reportedly one of several deployed over military sites across the planet.
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Anxieties surrounding Chinese espionage also occur as President Joe Biden prohibits TikTok, a social media platform controlled by Chinese technology company ByteDance, on devices <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senate-unanimously-votes-to-ban-tiktok-on-government-devices" target="_blank" rel="noopener">owned</a> by the federal government. The move was preceded by several similar bans issued by state governments and requests from lawmakers to limit the platform’s reach in the United States.
The White House is also expected to unveil an executive order that would ban American investors from funding the development of Chinese advanced semiconductors, quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and other technologies with surveillance and military applications, according to a recent <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/white-house-refining-executive-order-banning-american-companies-from-investing-in-key-chinese-sectors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from The New York Times. Lawmakers threatened to pursue their own investment restrictions in the absence of plans from the executive branch.

Container ships at dock

Defense Officials Worry About New Chinese Espionage Threat, Report Says

Chinese Spy Cranes: Defense Officials Concerned By Surveillance Of American Ports From CCP-Owned Company

Supply Chain

Technology

Rep. Jack Bergman (R-MI) introduced new legislation on Wednesday that would force state-sponsored <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/media" target="_blank" rel="noopener">media</a> organizations operating on Capitol Hill to comply with the Foreign Agents Registration Act and other relevant U.S. laws.
The legislation from Bergman, a retired Marine Corps Lt. General who now serves as the Chairman of the House Armed Services Intelligence and Special Operations Subcommittee, comes after he wrote a <a href="https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000186-149d-d453-a38e-76dff17c0000" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> to Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) last month specifically targeting Qatar&#8217;s Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN).
Bergman, along with two other Republican lawmakers, called for the &#8220;immediate suspension of press credentials for the Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN), and for that suspension to remain in place until the State of Qatar and its propaganda arm agree to adhere to the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) and other U.S. laws.&#8221;
For example, the letter noted that Al Jazeera has 136 employees who have press credentials while The New York Times only has 82 employees with the same access.
&#8220;Credentialed members of the House and Senate galleries enjoy unparalleled access to the U.S. Capitol, as well as to Senators, Members of Congress, and staffers,” the letter noted. “While this access is necessary for the media to provide accurate reporting to the American public, it is also the kind of access coveted by foreign powers seeking sensitive information from inside Congress.”
In addition to requiring compliance with FARA, Bergman’s <a href="https://bergman.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=1035" target="_blank" rel="noopener">legislation</a> also:
<ul>
<li>Sets a limit of ten total press credentials for any qualifying foreign state-sponsored media outlet and its affiliates, and;</li>
<li>Requires FBI background checks for all individuals applying for credentials to the House Press Gallery through a qualifying foreign state-sponsored media outlet.</li>
</ul>
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Bergman&#8217;s bill highlights several foreign adversaries that have well-documented histories of spying on Americans — such as Russia, Qatar, and China — and that own powerful state-controlled propaganda organizations that have virtually unlimited access to U.S. lawmakers, making espionage easier.
&#8220;Troublingly, state-sponsored media outlets are not subjected to background checks prior to acquiring credentials, even if the outlet is owned or controlled by a state that is known to have conducted espionage operations targeting U.S. government officials or other Americans,&#8221; Bergman said in a statement. &#8220;Over the past decade, the People’s Republic of China, Russia, and the State of Qatar have aggressively deployed their espionage forces against United States Government agencies and government officials, as well as targeting thousands of United States businesses and Americans perceived to be opponents or dissidents of their regimes.&#8221;
Bergman&#8217;s office noted numerous examples of China, Russia, and Qatar spying on Americans on U.S. soil, thus highlighting the importance of the legislation.
&#8220;Unless and until state-sponsored media outlets respect our laws by registering under FARA, we cannot allow their employees almost unfettered access to the halls of Congress—especially if the FBI has never conducted background checks on those given &#8216;all-access passes&#8217; for Capitol Hill,&#8221; Bergman said. &#8220;If foreign state-sponsored media outlets from countries such as China, Qatar and Russia will not respect FARA and our laws protecting Americans from surveillance, the possibility is all too real that foreign intelligence services could use their propaganda arms to hide intelligence operatives in plain sight in the U.S. Capitol.&#8221;
“It is difficult to see how anyone could stand in opposition to legislation that merely requires foreign state-sponsored media outlets to comply with U.S. law in order to receive Congressional press credentials,” he concluded.

House GOP Meeting

GOP Rep Jack Bergman Introduces Bill To Crack Down On Foreign State Media Operating On Capitol Hill

Media

Politics

Qatar

White House

This article is a companion piece to today’s Morning Wire Afternoon Update. To listen to the podcast version, click <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.
Biden Picks New Labor Secretary
President Biden <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-taps-california-official-who-oversaw-billions-in-covid-unemployment-fraud-to-serve-as-labor-secretary">said</a> on Tuesday he’s nominating the current deputy secretary of labor, Julie Su, to be the next Secretary of Labor. Su has come under criticism in the past for indirectly overseeing the California Employment Development Department as one-tenth of the $114 billion in pandemic relief claims the agency handled reportedly involved fraudulent activity. If confirmed, Su would replace Marty Walsh, who left the administration to become head of the National Hockey League Players&#8217; Association.
Biden Admin Wants To Restart Spying Program
On Tuesday, the Biden Administration <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-admin-asks-congress-to-reauthorize-fisa-surveillance-powers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">requested</a> that Congress reauthorize the surveillance program known as “section 702.” The controversial spying program is intended to monitor the communications of foreigners abroad, but critics warn that it has the potential to electronically record American citizens. The Justice Department and Office of the Director of National Intelligence claim it is necessary for American safety.
16 Bipartisan Members Of Congress Want USA To Send F-16 Fighter Jets To Ukraine
This morning, 16 members of Congress sent the Biden administration a bipartisan letter urging the president to send F-16s to Ukraine. The Pentagon has said that F-16s are not needed at this moment in the fight against Russia.
Chicago Mayoral Election Held Tuesday
Residents of Chicago head to the polls today to elect a new mayor for the nation&#8217;s third-largest city, where crime has become a key ballot issue. Current, first-term Mayor Lori Lightfoot faces challenges from eight rivals, and according to recent polling, the election could go to a runoff in April. A poll from Northwestern University shows a tight race with Paul Vallas and U.S. Rep. Jesus Garcia in the lead, with 19% and 17%, respectively. Lightfoot currently sits at 14%.
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Cali Ends COVID Emergency
California officially ended its COVID state of emergency today. It’s been nearly three years since Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom enacted the emergency powers. Despite the governor being stripped of certain authorities with the end of the state of emergency, things such as statewide mask mandates in health care settings and long-term care and adult senior care settings will remain in place.
Border Patrol Nabs Massive Fentanyl Haul
A massive shipment of the deadly drug fentanyl — <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/massive-fentanyl-shipment-enough-to-kill-50-million-people-seized-in-california" target="_blank" rel="noopener">enough to reportedly kill 50 million people</a> — has been seized by U.S. Border Patrol in Southern California. A tweet from Raul Ortiz, Chief of U.S. Border Patrol, reads, “San Diego Agents &amp; local LEO partners arrested 3 and seized 232 lbs. of Fentanyl worth over $3 million.” The drug seizure was made during a routine traffic stop in Orange county over the weekend.
Mississippi Bans Sex-Changes, Puberty Blocks, And Hormone Therapy For Children
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/i-find-it-grotesque-matt-walsh-bats-down-media-at-mississippi-bill-signing-to-ban-trans-care-for-minors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signed</a> a bill today that would ban transgender medical treatments for children. House Bill 1125 bans sex-change surgical procedures, as well puberty blockers and hormone therapy for anyone under 18. Daily Wire host Matt Walsh was at the signing ceremony and gave remarks.
&#8220;I&#8217;m extremely encouraged to not only see this law being passed, but to see the national movement that we have been able to build pushing back against the gender ideology madness,&#8221; Walsh <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mississippi-bans-sex-change-procedures-for-minors-matt-walsh-delivers-remarks-with-governor" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>, adding, &#8220;One of the most basic truths is that children who are confused about their identity need guidance and love and clarity. They don&#8217;t need hormone injections and scalpels.&#8221;
To listen to the audio version of this podcast, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/morning-wire/id1576594336" target="_blank" rel="noopener">click here</a>. And for more in-depth discussion of the biggest stories of the day, listen to the latest full episode of Morning Wire every morning.

WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 28: U.S. President Joe Biden departs the White House on February 28, 2023 in Washington, DC. Biden is scheduled to travel today to Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Tuesday Afternoon Update: Controversial Labor Chief Picked, Biden Admin Wants To Restart Foreign Spying Program, Mississippi Signs Major Law Against Radical Gender Ideology

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President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joe Biden</a> said this week that there’s a “possibility” that communist Chinese leader Xi Jinping didn’t know the spy balloon was flying over the continental U.S.
The Pentagon first detected the Chinese spy balloon over U.S. airspace on January 28, but Biden allowed it to travel across the U.S. for a week before finally having it shot down in early February off the coast of South Carolina.
&#8220;Let me just ask you this first, do we know definitively yet whether or not that spy balloon was flying over the continental U.S. intentionally?&#8221; ABC News host David Muir asked.
&#8220;It is almost not relevant once it was over the United States,&#8221; Biden responded.
&#8220;So there&#8217;s a possibility President Xi didn&#8217;t know?&#8221; Muir asked.
&#8220;There is a possibility of that,&#8221; Biden claimed.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
&quot;Do we know definitively yet whether or not that [Chinese] spy balloon was flying over the continental U.S. intentionally?&quot;
BIDEN (who watched it fly over the entire U.S. before shooting it down): &quot;It is almost not relevant once it was over the United States&quot; <a href="https://t.co/fc9m5Yv5R2">pic.twitter.com/fc9m5Yv5R2</a>
&mdash; RNC Research (@RNCResearch) <a href="https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1629269878917189632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 24, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
When Biden finally gave the order to shoot it down over the Atlantic Ocean, the U.S. military used a single air-to-air AIM-9X Sidewinder missile fired from an F-22 Raptor to carry out the task.
Glen David VanHerck, Commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM), <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pentagon-releases-new-close-up-photo-of-chinese-spy-balloon-flying-over-u-s-before-it-was-shot-down">said</a> that the balloon was up to 200 feet tall and weighed “in excess of a couple thousand pounds.”
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILY WIRE APP</a>
After the spy balloon was shot down, the U.S. subsequently downed three more unidentified objects over Alaska, Lake Huron, and Canada.
“It is also common for U.S. balloons to illegally enter the airspace of other countries,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin claimed without evidence. “Since last year, U.S. high-altitude balloons have illegally flown over China’s airspace more than 10 times without the approval of Chinese authorities.”
National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said that the communist nation’s claims were a lie and that China was trying to deflect from the embarrassing situation they have caused.
“It is China that has a high-altitude surveillance balloon program for intelligence collection, connected to the People’s Liberation Army, that it has used to violate the sovereignty of the United States and over 40 countries across five continents,” Watson tweeted.
“This is the latest example of China scrambling to do damage control,” she continued. “It has repeatedly and wrongly claimed the surveillance balloon it sent over the United States was a weather balloon and to this day has failed to offer any credible explanations for its intrusion into our airspace and the airspace of others.”

President Biden Hosts Dinner For Nation’s Governors Gathered In D.C. For National Governor’s Association Winter Meeting

Biden Claims It’s A ‘Possibility’ Communist China’s Xi Jinping Didn’t Know Spy Balloon Was Flying Over U.S.

Executive

Joe Biden

A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/cnn" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNN</a> camera crew that was on a U.S. Navy plane over the South China Sea on Friday captured a fighter jet from <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/communist-china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">communist China</a> harassing the aircraft while it made a routine flight.
The U.S. Navy P-8A reconnaissance plane was flying at 21,500 feet about 30 miles from the contested Paracel Islands where China has military bases.
“American aircraft. Chinese airspace is 12 nautical miles,&#8221; a Chinese woman from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) said over the radio. &#8220;Not approaching any more or you bear all responsibility.&#8221;
The U.S. plane was quickly intercepted by a Chinese PLA J-11 fighter jet that flew just a couple hundred feet from the reconnaissance plane for a period of about 15 minutes before flying away.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Hear Chinese warning to US plane in midair over South China sea" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/J8uKCCs44oY?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
The <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/24/asia/us-navy-south-china-sea-flyover-intl-hnk-ml/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> said that the interaction underscored just how serious tensions are between the two countries.
The incident comes just a month after the U.S. first detected a Chinese spy balloon over U.S. airspace on January 28, which was shot down in early February off the coast of South Carolina after President Joe Biden allowed it to travel across the entire country, flying over sensitive military sites, over the period of a week.
The U.S. military released a new close-up photo of the spy balloon this week that was taken by the pilot of a U-2 spy plane who was monitoring the balloon as it flew over the U.S.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The U.S. Department of Defense just released this photo of the Chinese government spy balloon that was taken by the pilot of a U-2 spy plane. <a href="https://t.co/gxXn4RiZTO">pic.twitter.com/gxXn4RiZTO</a>
&mdash; Yashar Ali 🐘 یاشار (@yashar) <a href="https://twitter.com/yashar/status/1628503718164566016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 22, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
When Biden finally gave the order to shoot it down over the Atlantic Ocean, the U.S. military used a single air-to-air AIM-9X Sidewinder missile fired from an F-22 Raptor to carry out the task.
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILY WIRE APP</a>
Glen David VanHerck, Commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM), <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pentagon-releases-new-close-up-photo-of-chinese-spy-balloon-flying-over-u-s-before-it-was-shot-down">said</a> that the balloon was up to 200 feet tall and weighed “in excess of a couple thousand pounds.”
After the spy balloon was shot down, the U.S. subsequently downed three more unidentified objects over Alaska, Lake Huron, and Canada.
“It is also common for U.S. balloons to illegally enter the airspace of other countries,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin claimed without evidence. “Since last year, U.S. high-altitude balloons have illegally flown over China’s airspace more than 10 times without the approval of Chinese authorities.”
National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said that the communist nation’s claims were a lie and that China was trying to deflect from the embarrassing situation they have caused.
“It is China that has a high-altitude surveillance balloon program for intelligence collection, connected to the People’s Liberation Army, that it has used to violate the sovereignty of the United States and over 40 countries across five continents,” Watson tweeted.
“This is the latest example of China scrambling to do damage control,” she continued. “It has repeatedly and wrongly claimed the surveillance balloon it sent over the United States was a weather balloon and to this day has failed to offer any credible explanations for its intrusion into our airspace and the airspace of others.”

Chinese fighter

Chinese Fighter Jet Harasses U.S. Navy Plane With CNN Camera Crew Inside

Military

The U.S. Military released a selfie taken by the pilot of a U-2 spy plane that was monitoring the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/communist-china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chinese</a> spy balloon that was shot down earlier this month off the coast of South Carolina.
The spy balloon was first detected over U.S. airspace on January 28 and was shot down a week later after President Joe Biden allowed it to travel across the entire country, flying over sensitive military sites.
The photo was taken as it hovered over the Central Continental United States February 3, 2023, the Pentagon said.
CNN first reported the existence of the photo.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
News: DoD has released a selfie taken in the cockpit of a U-2 spy plane, as an airman flew above the Chinese surveillance balloon shot down by the US military earlier this month. 
 CNN first reported the existence of the selfie. <a href="https://t.co/4TBsBnFdk4">pic.twitter.com/4TBsBnFdk4</a>
&mdash; Zachary Cohen (@ZcohenCNN) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZcohenCNN/status/1628497300891791360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 22, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The U.S. Department of Defense just released this photo of the Chinese government spy balloon that was taken by the pilot of a U-2 spy plane. <a href="https://t.co/gxXn4RiZTO">pic.twitter.com/gxXn4RiZTO</a>
&mdash; Yashar Ali 🐘 یاشار (@yashar) <a href="https://twitter.com/yashar/status/1628503718164566016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 22, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The spy balloon was finally shot down over the Atlantic Ocean on February 4th when the U.S. military used an F-22 Raptor to down the object with a single air-to-air AIM-9X Sidewinder missile.
VanHerck, Commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM), said that the balloon was up to 200 feet tall and weighed “in excess of a couple thousand pounds.”
After the spy balloon was shot down, the U.S. subsequently downed three more unidentified objects over Alaska, Lake Huron, and Canada.
“It is also common for U.S. balloons to illegally enter the airspace of other countries,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin claimed without evidence. “Since last year, U.S. high-altitude balloons have illegally flown over China’s airspace more than 10 times without the approval of Chinese authorities.”
National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said that the communist nation’s claims were a lie and that China was trying to deflect from the embarrassing situation they have caused.
“It is China that has a high-altitude surveillance balloon program for intelligence collection, connected to the People’s Liberation Army, that it has used to violate the sovereignty of the United States and over 40 countries across five continents,” Watson tweeted.
“This is the latest example of China scrambling to do damage control,” she continued. “It has repeatedly and wrongly claimed the surveillance balloon it sent over the United States was a weather balloon and to this day has failed to offer any credible explanations for its intrusion into our airspace and the airspace of others.”
This report has been updated to include additional information.

Chinese spy balloon flying above Charlotte

Pentagon Releases New Close-Up Photo Of Chinese Spy Balloon Flying Over U.S. Before It Was Shot Down

Pentagon

Cockpit audio from the F-16 fighter jets that were scrambled to intercept an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/ufo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">unidentified object flying</a> over Lake Huron over the weekend reveals that the pilots had difficulty describing what they believed the object was.
The release of the audio recording comes after the object was shot down on Sunday, after an object was shot down over Canada on Saturday, and after an object was shot down on Friday off the coast of Alaska.
“I wouldn’t really call it a balloon … I don’t know what … I can see it outside with my eyes,” one of the pilots from the Wisconsin Air National Guard said in a recording obtained by <a href="https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/listen-to-f-16-pilots-intercept-the-octagon-object-over-lake-huron" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Drive</a>. “Looks like something … there’s some kind of object that’s distended in the air. It’s hard to tell, it’s pretty small.”
Another pilot said he could not tell if the object was &#8220;metallic or what.&#8221;
&#8220;I can see, like, lines coming down below, but I can’t see anything below it,” he continued, adding that the object was “definitely smaller than a car.”
Pilots said that it was a &#8220;blackish&#8221; color that looked like a container.
“The size of it, that would be challenging … it’s so slow and so small, I just can’t see it because it’s so close,” a pilot said.
“I’m going to call it a balloon,&#8221; another pilot said. &#8220;You can definitely see strings hanging down below but I don’t see anything more. … It’s pretty small, I don’t know, about the size of, like a four-wheeler or something.”
The Air Force F-16 jet that took down the object had to fire two $472,000 Sidewinder AIM-9X missiles at the target because the first missile somehow missed the object.
“The first Sidewinder heat-seeking missile missed the target,” a defense official <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/us-military-first-shot-unknown-octagonal-object-lake-huron-missed" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-reader-unique-id="50">told</a> Fox News.
The object was shot down while flying at an altitude of approximately 20,000 feet inside U.S. airspace near Michigan.
U.S. officials said that they believe that this is the object that was detected late Saturday night over Montana that U.S. fighter jets could not locate at the time.
“Based on its flight path and data we can reasonably connect this object to the radar signal picked up over Montana, which flew in proximity to sensitive DOD sites,” the Pentagon said in a statement. “We did not assess it to be a kinetic military threat to anything on the ground, but assess it was a safety flight hazard and a threat due to its potential surveillance capabilities.”
Debris from the object has not yet been located.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Radio Audio From F-16 Shoot Down Of Object Over Lake Huron" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DR4dWC5WHFw?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

F-16

Audio Released From F-16 Fighter Jets As They Intercepted Object Over Lake Huron

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