FBI's silence on Tim Walz China connections 'inexcusable,' House Oversight says in new letter

The House Oversight Committee re-upped its request Thursday to FBI Director Christopher Wray for information about the entities with which Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz partnered during his estimated 30 trips to China as a teacher since 1993. 

The bureau failed to respond to the committee's previous, Aug. 16 request – in a letter seeking information on the entities and individuals Walz, now the Democratic vice presidnetial nominee, partnered with in China to coordinate annual educational trips to the communist country. 

The committee particularly wants to know whether Walz received any warnings from the FBI about Chinese influence operations. 

Committee Chairman James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, in the new request Thursday called bureau's failure to respond "inexcusable." 

"The deadline to produce such documents and information has passed, and the Bureau has failed to provide any response to the Committee," he wrote. "The FBI’s silence regarding Mr. Walz’s documented relations with CCP affiliates is inexcusable."

Comer set Sept. 19 as the new deadline for his request.

He also wrote: "During the 118th Congress, the Committee has investigated federal agencies’ responses to CCP influence and infiltration tactics, including the FBI’s own strategy; on July 17, the Bureau briefed the Committee on CCP influence operations," he continued. "In part based on that briefing, it is clear to the Committee that Mr. Walz’s history with CCP-affiliates bears characteristics of such influence operations, and the FBI must produce any information it has regarding this concerning development." 

Walz reportedly took about 30 trips to the People's Republic of China beginning in 1993 when he organized a trip for his Alliance High School students. The costs were covered in part by the Chinese government, according to reports cited by the committee. 

Additionally, the committee found that while Walz was in Congress he helped secure more than $2 million for the Minnesota-based Hormel Institute, a research center that has a history of working with the Wuhan Institute of Virology of COVID-19 lab leak theory fame. The former director of Hormel, Dr. Zigang Dong was a donor to Walz and stepped down in 2019 in the midst of an FBI probe investigating whether he applied for grants without disclosing foreign backing.