House Judiciary Dems Call for IG Investigation into Alleged FBI Misconduct
Representatives Ted Lieu (D-CA), Mondaire Jones (D-NY), and Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) of the House Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General (IG) Michael Horowitz on June 17, 2021 urging an investigation into alleged misconduct by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as part of the China Initiative. The China Initiative was launched during the Trump administration and is meant to target Chinese economic espionage in the U.S., such as intellectual property theft.
However, after University of Tennessee at Knoxville associate professor Anming Hu was allegedly falsely accused by the FBI of being a Chinese spy, lawmakers expressed concerns that racial profiling may play a large role in the China Initiative. The three Representatives, from the House Judiciary Committee, cited similar cases in a press release accompanying the letter, such as those of Wen Ho Lee, Sherry Chen, and Professor Xi, all of whom were falsely accused of spying on behalf of China by the FBI.
The lawmakers wrote in their letter, “[W]e are deeply troubled by the alleged misconduct of the [FBI] in the unsuccessful prosecution of [UTK] associate professor Anming Hu. The FBI allegedly falsely accused Professor Hu of being a Chinese spy; falsely implicated Professor Hu as an operative for the Chinese military; and used false information to put Professor Hu on the federal no-fly list—among a number of other actions.”
The lawmakers are urging the DOJ IG to launch a thorough investigation into whether the initiative puts pressure on DOJ personnel to engage in racial or ethnic profiling.
Their letter cites that during Professor Hu’s trial, FBI Agent Kujtim Sadiku testified that federal agents used false information to act on the false accusation Professor Hu was a Chinese spy. The jury was unable to reach a verdict in this case, resulting in a mistrial.
The lawmakers asserted in their letter, “If these allegations are true, the FBI’s misconduct is alarming.”