Posted on 12/01/2020 11:47:57 AM PST by Red Badger
Taxpayers paid $1.7 million to ex-pension fund manager Meng
Meng Yu / YouTube Screenshot
California taxpayers shelled out more than $1 million to a man linked to a Chinese espionage program, making him the state government’s highest-paid worker.
Meng Yu, former chief investment officer of the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS), received more than $1.7 million in total pay and benefits in 2019, according to the latest financial disclosures obtained by Transparent California, a taxpayer watchdog group. Under Meng's leadership the pension fund, which covers two million members in the retirement system and 1.5 million members under its health program, has been subject to federal inquiries into its investments in Chinese government entities.
Meng took the lead at the pension fund after China's Thousand Talents Program recruited him to serve as the deputy CIO of China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), a state-controlled entity. The FBI considers the Thousand Talents Program an example of "China's non-traditional espionage against the United States" that seeks to recruit people to transfer U.S. trade secrets and taxpayer-funded research into the hands of the Chinese government. Meng told the propaganda outlet People's Daily that he worked for SAFE out of patriotic commitment to "the motherland."
Neither CalPERS nor Governor Gavin Newsom's (D.) office responded to requests for comment.
Robert Fellner, the executive director of Transparent California, blasted CalPERS for failing to conduct appropriate oversight for such a high-profile position, pointing to Meng's August resignation.
"One would think that the state’s highest-paid employee earned his position after rigorous scrutiny revealed him to be the best candidate for the job," Fellner said. "If such recklessness is prevalent in a decision of this size and magnitude, how can Californians have any faith that their tax dollars are being spent responsibly in all those areas that evade public scrutiny?"
Meng resigned after the financial news blog Naked Capitalism reported that he may have committed a felony by failing to disclose his sale of 21 securities in 2019. Some of the undisclosed sales involved shares in Chinese companies. The site also argued that Meng's investments in Blackstone Group and other private equity groups presented a conflict of interest, since experts at CalPERS had advocated offloading investments in the firms—a move that would hurt Meng’s personal portfolio.
Meng's China ties attracted federal scrutiny. In February, the Trump administration confirmed that it was "looking at" CalPERS's investment in Chinese defense and state-owned companies to find out whether American taxpayer money was being used to subsidize China's military expansion. Rep. Jim Banks (R., Ind.), a leading China hawk on Capitol Hill, told the Washington Free Beacon that California owes taxpayers an explanation for how Meng was able to go directly from working for a Chinese entity to being the state's top earner.
"Californians not only had to see their hard-earned tax dollars go towards the buildup of our most dangerous adversary's military, they had to pay the guy responsible more than any other public official in their state," Banks said. "That's a raw deal."
Meng's $1.7 million compensation—comprising $1.5 million in pay and roughly $200,000 in benefits—far exceeds that of his predecessor, Theodore Eliopoulos, whom Meng replaced in January 2019. Eliopoulos made just shy of $1 million in total compensation in all of 2018. Meng's 2019 salary also far exceeded that of the second-most compensated California state employee, who made less than $1.3 million.
Recall Newsolini. One more reason.
California could have a Chinese flag flying from the state
capital building, and they’d still vote for what the Leftists
tell them to.
Another example of how rotten to the core the state government of California is. This guy was handed a very important finance job in a department that had access to every detail, personal and what job the employee had. Plus, he could move millions and millions to just about every banking and investment company on earth. He was not vetted and he got much more pay than the person had who wad in the position before him.
“California taxpayers shelled out more than $1 million to a man linked to a Chinese espionage program, making him the state government’s highest-paid worker.”
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Not to pick nits, but that amount pales in comparison to Chip Kelly, head football coach at UCLA:
“Kelly has a $300,000 base salary per year for the duration of his five-year contract and an annual “talent fee” for participation in public appearances at booster gatherings, university functions and UCLA media broadcasts. The talent fee starts at $3 million for the first contract year, which ends on Jan. 15, 2019, and increases to $4.3 million during each of the final two years.”
But I doubt that Kelly is a Chinese spy.
BRENDAN DALY, FORMER COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR FOR NANCY PELOSI AND A POLITICAL APPOINTEE OF THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION, IS A REGISTERED FOREIGN AGENT WHO PROVIDED THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY’S PREMIER STATE-RUN MEDIA OUTLET CHINA CENTRAL TELEVISION NETWORK WITH “STRATEGIC COUNSEL” AS IT EXPANDED INTO THE UNITED STATES, THE NATIONAL PULSE CAN REVEAL.
During his tenure as Executive Vice President at Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, Daly secured a contract between the lobbying behemoth and China Central Television Network (CCTV). Specifically, the firm helped the state-run propaganda outfit CCTV expand into American homes by “providing strategic counsel, identify relevant parties to communications activities, and media relations to support the launch of CCTV America.” “Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide will work with CCTV America to communicate to the American public that CCTV America will provide compelling, comprehensive, and balanced news programming from an Asian perspective that is relevant to a global audience,” the 2012 filing in accordance with the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) noted. Per CCTV’s FARA registration, however, the outlet is “supervised, owned, directed, controlled, financed, and subsidized” entirely by the Chinese Communist Party.
PELOSI ACCOMPANIED BY DALY, PICTURED ON HER RIGHT
He also provided the outlet with a memo detailing Ogilvy’s strategy on the count, detailing how to best bridge the gap between American homes and Chinese Communist Party propaganda:
The memo, sent from Daly, outlines how Ogilvy would provide CCTV with comprehensive support, including “influencer engagement” and “media relations support,” to achieve the “overall message that CCTV Americas is the source for business news in and with China, with credentialed, experienced and trusted journalists doing in-depth stories and reporting.”
“We are excited about the prospect of working with you to help establish CCTV Americas as the program to watch to succeed in an interconnected global economy,” the email concludes. CCTV has been identified by Freedom House think tank as a “long-standing weapon in Beijing’s arsenal of repression” whose mission “is to attack designated enemies of the Communist Party,” chiefly the U.S.
--SNIP--- rest at link
Joe Biden Jumps in headfirst----plans to “implement ntl mask mandates working with governors and mayors,” says his official transition website.
COLLUSION AND CONSPIRACY? Biden plans to personally call governors and mayors of major cities
to encourage mask mandates, NBC News reported Sunday. Hunter will do the leg work so Joe can nap.
He looks so sincere (sniffle).
Biden holds a protective mask (made in China?) after a 11/9 briefing from his transition Covid advisory board.
(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Aren’t coaches usually paid by the alumni?.............
Neah.
He perfectly represents Coastal California.
Now if we could arrange for rural California to secede...
bttt
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CHINA NETWORKING IN US --Secy of State Mike Pompeo Has the List
American Governors Rated ‘Friendly’ by Communist China
pjmedia.com | 2/9/2020 | MEGAN FOX
In a shocking speech to the National Governors Association, Secretary Mike Pompeo revealed that he is in possession of a list of American governors who have been listed as “friendly” by Chinese Communist infiltrators. Pompeo said he had received an earlier invitation from a former governor to attend a networking event that promised great “deal-making” opportunities with the Chinese government. This networking event was run by “The Chinese People’s Association for Friendship in Foreign Countries,” said Pompeo.
But what the US participants might not have known is that “the group is the public face of the Chinese Communist party’s official foreign influence agency, the United Front Work Department.”
Pompeo knew of this connection from his former position at the CIA.
He questioned the governors on how many of them knew that this group was a Communist-front group. “What if you made a “new friend” at the China networking event?” he asked.
“What if your ‘new friend’ offered to invest big money in your state: (A) perhaps in your pension fund, (B) or an investment in an industry sensitive to our national security?”
And then Pompeo dropped a huge bomb on the crowd. “These aren’t hypotheticals. Last year a Chinese government-backed think tank in Beijing produced a report that assessed all fifty of America’s governors on their attitudes toward China.
China labeled each pol friendly, hardline, or ambiguous.” Pompeo continued, “I’ll let you decide where you think you belong, someone in China already has. Many of you, indeed, in that report, are referenced by name.” (Excerpt) Read more at pjmedia.com …
QUESTION Nancy's ex-aide toadies to the Chinese.....she controls US govt spending.
Did she and the aide make any deals WRT federal monies going to China....maybe to the Chinese military?
In February, the Trump administration confirmed that it was "looking at" CalPERS's investment in Chinese defense and
state-owned companies to find out whether American tax dollars were being used to subsidize China's military expansion.
Rep. Jim Banks (R., Ind.), a leading China hawk on Capitol Hill, told the Washington Free Beacon that California owes taxpayers an explanation for how Meng was able to go directly from working for a Chinese entity to being the state's top earner. "Californians not only had to see their hard-earned tax dollars go towards the buildup of our most dangerous adversary's military, they had to pay the guy responsible more than any other public official in their state," Banks said. "That's a raw deal."
Barbara Ferrer in Los Angeles is a social worker director and get more then $500,000 a year and she and the mayor are the ones who shutdown business’s and cost people their jobs and savings.
They have a red star on their flag for a reason.
CalPers.
One more corrupt org. in this state under leftist control.
Is that to signify dominance?
Surrender
Okay...
Well, we have plenty of folks qualified to do that for us.
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