Free Republic

More than 60 Democratic representatives are demanding an ethics investigation into President Trump's ties to China, following the president's recent push to rescue Chinese telecommunications firm ZTE. Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) posted a letter to David Apol, acting head of the federal government's ethics office, to Twitter on Sunday, stating that the request was prompted by Trump "advocating" for ZTE just days after the Chinese government gave one of the president's business endeavors a $500 million loan. In the letter, lawmakers say the business dealing between the Trump Organization and China may have violated U.S. laws forbidding public officials from...

U.S. President Donald Trump's Republican allies in Congress are moving to block his deal to put Chinese telecom giant ZTE back in business if it pays $1 billion more in fines for violating U.S. sanctions against Iran. The Chinese company has been accused of violating U.S. sanctions by selling sensitive equipment to both North Korea and Iran. After Trump announced his deal with China and ZTE last week, Senate leaders said they would seek to reverse it. Republican and Democratic lawmakers introduced the amendment. Among other things, it would restore penalties on ZTE for violating U.S. export controls and bar...

Two former top Obama administration officials are working on behalf of Huawei, even as the Chinese telecom giant faces a Trump administration that increasingly sees it as 'a threat to national security'..... President Trump signed an executive order Wednesday likely aimed at limiting the influence of Huawei, ZTE, and other Chinese companies the U.S. intelligence community and law enforcement officials see as threats. But 'Samir Jain', 'Obama’s senior director for cybersecurity' policy for the National Security Council, registered as a lobbyist for Huawei in March 2019,.... and 'James Cole', who was Obama’s deputy attorney general from 2011 to 2015, has...

Federal contractors have about six weeks to meet a provision in the 2019 Defense authorization bill that says they are not using any equipment from Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE in their supply chains... This means state and local governments, as well as schools and libraries, who receive money from the FCC’s $8.3 billion dollar Universal Service Fund may no longer purchase, obtain, maintain, improve, modify or otherwise support any equipment or services produced or provided by these suppliers.

The United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has announced it is banning telecommunications and video surveillance equipment from prominent Chinese brands, including Huawei and ZTE, citing an "unacceptable risk to national security". The five-member FCC said on Friday it had voted unanimously to adopt new rules that will block the importation or sale of the targeted products. "Our unanimous decision represents the first time in the FCC's history that we have voted to prohibit the authorization of communications and electronic equipment based on national security considerations," FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr said in a statement on Friday. He added that the...

The U.S. government said it is banning telecommunications and video surveillance equipment from several prominent Chinese brands in an effort to protect the nation’s communications network. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted unanimously on Friday to expand its ban on the sale and import of Chinese technology from firms that pose an “unacceptable risk to the national security” of the United States. The decision implements the directive in the Secure Equipment Act of 2021 signed by President Biden in November that places additional restrictions on companies including Huawei and ZTE, surveillance camera makers Hikvision and Dahua, and two-way radio manufacturer...

DANA THOMPSON, A FORMER LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR AND CHIEF COUNSEL TO REP. MAXINE WATERS, REGISTERED AS A LOBBYIST ON BEHALF A HOST OF CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY-LINKED ENTITIES, THE NATIONAL PULSE CAN REVEAL. Thompson, who also served as Chief of Staff for Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, was a former Principal at lobbying behemoth Podesta Group before co-founding Fulcrum Public Affairs, the “only 100% Black and Latinx-owned government relations firm in Washington, DC.” While at the Podesta Group, the project of Democratic heavyweights John and Tony Podesta, Thompson registered to lobby on behalf of three Chinese Communist Party-linked entities: a controversial telecommunications...