GOP senators want answers on DOJ decision to kill program to catch Chinese spies

In a speech announcing the termination of the China Initiative, Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen of the Justice Department's National Security Division said that while China "Stands apart" as a "Brazen" espionage threat, a "Broader approach" is needed to confront threats from a "Variety" of countries.

"Specifically, its enforcement efforts to counter espionage and other illicit activities conducted by the CCP." The lawmakers listed five specific questions they want Garland to answer, including what concrete changes are expected at the Justice Department as it transitions from the China Initiative to its new program.

Wray has testified his agency is opening counterintelligence investigations into China "Every 12 hours." The China Initiative led to several arrests and convictions.

"We have heard concerns from the civil rights community that the China Initiative fueled a narrative of intolerance and bias," Olsen said in his speech.

"By grouping cases under the China Initiative rubric, we helped give rise to a harmful perception that the department applies a lower standard to investigate and prosecute criminal conduct related to that country or that we in some way view people with racial, ethnic, or familial ties to China differently." The senators countered such concerns shouldn't have warranted ending the China Initiative altogether.

"The wholesale abandonment of a national security initiative because of unproven allegations of racial profiling should not happen." Leading the pressure campaign to kill the China Initiative were Yale University and Stanford University.

The purpose is to encourage "Complacency toward China's pervasive, long-term initiatives against both government critics at home and businesses and academic institutions abroad," according to the report.
 

https://justthenews.com/government/security/gop-senators-want-answers-doj-decision-kill-program-catch-chinese-spies