House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer has just floated a bombshell theory: that Minnesota Governor Tim Walz may have come under Chinese surveillance and influence as far back as his first trip to China in 1989.
The theory really took off, however, after a segment by Fox News host Jesse Watters, who speculated that maybe China had been keeping a close eye on Walz during his frequent travels there in the 1990s. “You go to China 30 times in the ’90s, I guarantee you, they got a whole library on him, maybe even the honeymoon night,” Watters said. “What kind of leverage or compromise does that come up to?”
“Watters further inquired about the nature of previous concerns relating to President Trump and unsubstantiated claims, which were played against this issue as a more real threat.
Comer further justified the concerns highlighted by Watters, building on the narrative that China’s long-term strategy would be part of the country’s efforts to mentor important political figures as a way of landing a space in the U.S. government setting.
“China’s way is methodical and patient”. “It’s very likely that they would be using those surveillance powers to grow a political protege as part of their overall operation,” Comer argued.
He added that the same operating pattern had been previously identified in military and academic environments in the past with respect to Chinese spy rings.
Comer called for an inquiry into Walz’s connections, noting potential ideological, rather than solely professional, alignments.
Walz’s relations with China have gone from teaching in that country’s Guangdong to his honeymoon visit there and further trips taken with high school exchange students.
He had also been involved while he was a congressman with the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, which focused on human rights conditions in China.
The office of Walz, too, quickly responded after Comer announced his investigation of Walz.
A Walz spokesperson derided the allegations, saying Republicans “are distorting basic facts and engaging in desperate attempts to divert attention from the Trump-Vance agenda.”
The spokesperson went on to say Comer’s theory is more about political maneuvering than anything produced by reality to actual concerns. The controversy has added a whole other layer of interest to what was already a controversial talking point about U.S. relations with China.
