(JustPatriots.com)- New reports reveal how Republican Senator Mitt Romney of Utah, a staunch critic of former President Donald Trump, is implicated in a scandal relating to Chinese Communist Party-funded trips to China for Congressional staff.
According to Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) filings from 2015, a letter from the Chinese Ambassador to the United States requested approval from the Barack Obama administration for trips to China for congressional staff to be paid for by the U.S.-China Transpacific Foundation (UCTPF).
The non-profit public organization describes itself as a group established to “forge strong bi-lateral ties between the two nations [China and U.S.] with the belief that a positive relationship between the world’s two most influential economies is essential for the well-being of the global economy.”
“The Government of the People’s Republic of China, as represented by the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the U.S., is the sponsor of this program. It will fund all activities of this program and no private funds will be used. However, no funding will be provided for expenses incurred by or for any member of the family or household of the federal employees participating in the program. The National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs will be the host organizations in China,” the letter stated.
The sketchy organization, which proudly displayed a photograph of Chinese President Xi Jinping, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on its website, received approval for the request.
Richard Stengel, the then-Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, said that he was “pleased to approve the cultural exchange program proposed by the Embassy of China.”
The National Pulse noted that, soon after the agreement, a number of American lobbying companies started signing lucrative contracts with the Chinese non-profit to start putting together the trips…and Mitt Romney’s office very quickly started benefitting.
Between October 2017 and October 2019, at least seven exchange programs took place. Among them was a trip for Megan Reiss, the National Security Policy Advisor of Senator Mitt Romney. Reiss led a delegation of 12 members of Romney’s staff to China, according to the UCTPF.
Mitt Romney’s National Security Policy Advisor went to China with a dozen members of staff and nobody thought this might have been a problem?
Various other Senate offices have “benefitted” from the program, too, including a trip for then-Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in April 2018.
Before landing in China, visitors were reportedly given 400-page primers about the Chinese Communist party, providing background about the Chinese government and Communist Party, intellectual property issues, and more.
Within the documents were several articles from Chinese state-run newspaper and media outlets, including the Global Times.
Senator Mitt Romney has not publicly addressed the scandal.
