It’s been no secret that China is using every means at its disposal to undermine America’s national and economic security – a problem now exacerbated by President Joe Biden’s increasingly marshmallow-like policies toward China.
But that malign threat is now spreading to those who control the U.S. money supply: the Federal Reserve banks.
And GOP Sen. Rick Scott of Florida and other Republicans want the Biden administration to explain how it can be stopped.
Scott and the rest were responding to a report issued last month by Republicans on the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee. The investigation found that China is trying to recruit economists within the Fed to steal and reveal insider info about decisions affecting the U.S. economy.
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Investigators uncovered at least 13 Fed employees at eight of the 12 Fed banks who worked closely with China to provide information and sought to help recruit others in funneling data to China. The GOP senators also noted that the Fed lacked the “internal counterintelligence competency” to deal with such threats.
Accordingly, Scott, joined by Sens. Rob Portman, Ron Johnson, Rand Paul, James Lankford, Mitt Romney, and Josh Hawley issued a letter asking for Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell and leaders at the FBI to appear at a hearing so they could share what’s being done to stop this threat.
The report, they wrote, raised concerns “that must be addressed to safeguard and preserve the integrity of our country’s monetary policy.”
For more than 10 years, China has engaged in an “information theft campaign” against the Fed that takes advantage of America’s “open and collaborative research practices.”
Two years ago, they added, the FBI provided the Fed with several policy and procedural recommendations to mitigate the “Chinese malign influence and information theft.” Yet the Fed has not implemented the “vast majority” of these recommendations, the senators said.
“This is unacceptable. As the committee charged with oversight of the federal government, HSGAC should act on the Minority Staff Report and hold a hearing with Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell and leadership at the FBI to get answers on these urgent and sensitive matters, and to better understand the next steps in responding to this threat,” the letter continued.
“The American people deserve nothing less than full accountability from their government, and we urge you to take up this matter and hold a public hearing on this report.”
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Free Press.
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