Representative Jim Banks (R-IN) has called on Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to launch an immediate investigation into Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s repeated visits to China during his tenure with the Nebraska and Minnesota National Guards.
Banks’ letter to the Pentagon raises serious concerns about whether Walz, a former senior enlisted service member, properly reported his frequent foreign travels, potentially putting national security at risk.
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 took place while he held a security clearance as part of his duties.
“He and his wife also organized trips to China from 1994 to 2003 at least annually. During this whole period, Walz remained a service member in either the Nebraska or Minnesota National Guards and presumably held a clearance for much or all of this time. Walz claimed in 2016 that he had traveled to China nearly 30 times; it is likely that at least a dozen of these trips occurred while he was a guardsman,” according to the letter.
“The CCP can use this optimism to exploit naïve foreign visitors, particularly visitors who are military servicemembers. Walz bragged after one trip to China that “they gave me more gifts than I could bring home” and that “I will never be treated that well again.””
Banks asserts that the Governor’s travels to China, an adversary nation, should have been subject to strict scrutiny and prior approval from security offices, as is standard procedure for any clearance holder.
Yet, there is growing concern that Walz may have circumvented these protocols, failing to disclose his trips and the nature of his interactions with Chinese officials.
“Clearance holders often require prior approval and threat briefings for foreign travel to prepare them for the risks of hostile foreign intelligence activity,” said Banks.
“These intelligence threat concerns are far greater when a security clearance holder travels to an adversary nation like the People’s Republic of China, especially when that clearance holder travels there on dozens of occasions. Clearance holders who return from foreign travel are also required to complete debriefing questionnaires for their security office, detailing their trip and reporting any potentially suspicious interactions that occurred during their travels.”
Banks also criticized Walz for his dismissive attitude toward the U.S.-China relationship, quoting the governor’s 2016 statement in which he claimed that the U.S. and China did not have an “adversarial relationship” and that there were “many areas of cooperation” between the two countries.
The congressman highlighted the absurdity of Walz choosing China as his honeymoon destination and scheduling his wedding to coincide with the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre.
In his letter, Rep. Banks demanded answers to several pressing questions regarding Walz’s security clearance and his compliance with foreign travel protocols. Banks wants to know whether Walz reported his travels to the appropriate security office, whether he received prior approval for his trips, and whether he was ever warned about the potential security risks posed by his frequent travel to China.
“Given Walz’s history of pro-China positions and his already irresponsible personal decision to repeatedly travel to an adversary nation while holding a clearance, the most plausible explanation for this lapse in security is that Waltz may have failed or refused to comply with Department of Defense foreign travel reporting requirements,” Banks wrote in the letter.
“If Walz did fail or refuse to report foreign travel to an adversary nation to his superiors, the Department of Defense must investigate this reckless disregard for our national security and set the public record straight about this security failure.”
Requested a detailed response from Secretary Austin by August 20, 2024, urging the Pentagon to take this matter seriously and to provide the American people with the transparency they deserve.
New: @Jim_Banks sends letter to Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin questioning how @Tim_Walz, “a senior enlisted guardsman, presumably with a Secret security clearance,” travelled “to China regularly on unofficial business without raising red flags?”
Letter: pic.twitter.com/WEW5RMF9lP
— Philip Melanchthon Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) August 13, 2024
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