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Beijing in America's Backyard: a SoCal Mayor & an Operative Targeting a U.S. Lawmaker’s Aide · The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson

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  Speaker 1: Good. Then I said, yeah, he's a dumb guy. And
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  Speaker 1: then I said he's a Democrat. And I don't know
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  Speaker 1: if people are gonna like that term or not.
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  Speaker 2: It maybe catches on and maybe it doesn't.
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  Speaker 1: But it's true. If policies are insane, and they would
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  Speaker 1: drive our country into ruin, and we've got to do
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  Speaker 1: great in the midterms, and if we don't, they will
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  Speaker 1: do everything they can to destroy our country. There's something
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  Speaker 1: wrong with them. You're listening to the forty seven Morning
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  Speaker 1: Update with Ben Ferguson.
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  Speaker 2: Good Tuesday morning. Nice to have you with us on
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  Speaker 2: the forty seven Morning Update, and we've got two major
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  Speaker 2: stories for you. First up, a California mayor right outside
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  Speaker 2: of la resigning after agreeing to plead guilty to acting
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  Speaker 2: as an agent for the Communist Chinese Party. This happening
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  Speaker 2: is We moved to story number two, which is now
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  Speaker 2: China making a full court press to infiltrate the very
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  Speaker 2: Washington officials that are investigating Beijing's influence in America, offering
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  Speaker 2: thousands of dollars. It's the forty seven Morning Update and
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  Speaker 2: it starts right now.
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  Speaker 1: Story number one.
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  Speaker 2: We have two very interesting stories that we're going to
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  Speaker 2: start off with today, and a lot of it deals
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  Speaker 2: with China and just how much they're trying to infiltrate
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  Speaker 2: and being successful at it in this country, possibly stealing
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  Speaker 2: major national security secrets and government information, as well as
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  Speaker 2: influencing the towns that many of you are living in.
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  Speaker 2: Perfect example of this is what we've just learned about
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  Speaker 2: a celebrated democrat, a female California mayor is now admitted
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  Speaker 2: to being a secret spy for China, and she looks
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  Speaker 2: very different to her photoshopped original images, which is part
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  Speaker 2: of the story. Now. The mayor of the wealthy southern
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  Speaker 2: California city has since resigned after admitting she secretly acted
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  Speaker 2: as an agent for the Chinese government. According to the
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  Speaker 2: federal plea agreement that was unsealed on Monday, the former
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  Speaker 2: Arcadia mayor out side of la her name was Wang,
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  Speaker 2: She's fifty eight, and she agreed to plead guilty to
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  Speaker 2: felony charge of acting as an illegal foreign agent for
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  Speaker 2: the People's Republic of China and helping push pro Beijing
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  Speaker 2: propaganda inside the US. Now, you may ask yourself, why
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  Speaker 2: would they want a random mayor. Well, let's be clear,
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  Speaker 2: China wasn't getting a random mayor. They were getting a
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  Speaker 2: mayor of a very wealthy suburb of la and that
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  Speaker 2: is exactly how she could help push pro Beijing propaganda
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  Speaker 2: not only inside the US, but also with those that
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  Speaker 2: have so much influence over our culture in Los Angeles. Now,
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  Speaker 2: the interesting part about the crime that she's been charged
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  Speaker 2: with is it carries a sentence of up to ten
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  Speaker 2: years in federal prison. The stunning case prompted immediate fallout
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  Speaker 2: in Arcadia, where city officials confirm Wang stepped down from
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  Speaker 2: both the city council and the mayor's office on Monday.
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  Speaker 2: Federal Prosecuersang spent years, let me say it again, years
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  Speaker 2: working under the direction of Chinese government officials before rising
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  Speaker 2: into elected office in Los Angeles County. They also claim
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  Speaker 2: she used a Chinese language news website to distribute propaganda
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  Speaker 2: favorable to Beijing while secretly coordinating with officials tied to
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  Speaker 2: the Chinese Communist Party. This wasn't a low level operation,
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  Speaker 2: this was full influence on the Communist Party in China.
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  Speaker 2: Authorities described the website as a fake news platform specifically
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  Speaker 2: targeting Chinese Americans, and that's where they find many of
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  Speaker 2: their spies. Now, the case is also triggered intense scrutiny
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  Speaker 2: of Wang's carefully crafted public image. Again, China plays at
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  Speaker 2: a different level. They've gone pro is the best way
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  Speaker 2: I can describe it. Campaign photos and promotional images used
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  Speaker 2: during her political rise depicted Wang and heavily polished and
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  Speaker 2: retouched portraits that projected a glamorous and approachable persona to
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  Speaker 2: the voters. I'll go back to the core point here,
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  Speaker 2: China has gone pro in influencing America.
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  Speaker 1: Now.
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  Speaker 2: The unedited public images reveal a stark contrast to the
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  Speaker 2: stylized campaign photographs that once appeared across city political materials
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  Speaker 2: and social media. Her dramatic downfall came just hours after
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  Speaker 2: the City of Arcadia announced Wang's resignation from the city
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  Speaker 2: Council and her departure as the mayor. As a May eleventh,
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  Speaker 2: twenty sixteen, Wang resigned from the Arcadia City Council, vacating
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  Speaker 2: her position as mayor, the city said in a simple
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  Speaker 2: statement posted online. Now. In its next meeting, the city
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  Speaker 2: council says they will select a new mayor and a
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  Speaker 2: Mayor pro tem from among the remaining council members, and
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  Speaker 2: we'll begin discussing how Arcadia is District III will be
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  Speaker 2: represented until next year's election cycle in November. Wang was
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  Speaker 2: to the Arcadia City Council in twenty twenty two and
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  Speaker 2: later elevated to mayor through the city's rotating leadership system.
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  Speaker 2: According to the Department of Justice, however, Wang's ties to
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  Speaker 2: Chinese officials stretched back well before she ever took office,
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  Speaker 2: which is exactly how they have so much influence in
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  Speaker 2: America right now. Federal authorities say that from late twenty
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  Speaker 2: twenty through twenty twenty two, Wang worked alongside her then
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  Speaker 2: fiance under the direction and control of officials tied to
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  Speaker 2: the Chinese government. Together, prosecutors say they operated the website
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  Speaker 2: called US News Center, which presented itself as a legitimate
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  Speaker 2: Chinese American news outlet, while allegedly serving as nothing more
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  Speaker 2: than a propaganda vehicle for Beijing, specifically to have major
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  Speaker 2: influence in the US. According to the court filings, Chinese
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  Speaker 2: officials sent Wang's articles and directives through the encrypted messaging
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  Speaker 2: app we Chat, instructing her and others to publish content
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  Speaker 2: that would be favorable to the Chinese Communist Party. One
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  Speaker 2: of the most explosive examples outlined in the plea agreement
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  Speaker 2: involved propaganda denying allegations of genocide and forced labor in China.
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  Speaker 2: On June tenth, twenty twenty one, at Chinese government official
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  Speaker 2: also allegedly sent Wang a pre written article. It was
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  Speaker 2: titled China's stance on the of course forced labor issue.
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  Speaker 2: Now there is no genocide. It started with, there is
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  Speaker 2: no such thing as forced labor in any production activity,
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  Speaker 2: including cotton production. Spreading such rumor as to defame China
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  Speaker 2: and destroy the safety and stability the message rate, according
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  Speaker 2: to prosecutors, now we all know that there are many
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  Speaker 2: people that are actually yes slaves and slave labor in China,
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  Speaker 2: like the Wigers, which is a huge problem for China
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  Speaker 2: because the world knows that many of them are enslaved
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  Speaker 2: against their will and being abused as we speak now.
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  Speaker 2: The court document also says that Wang immediately reposted the
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  Speaker 2: Chinese Communist Party propaganda to her website literally within minutes,
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  Speaker 2: and then immediately sent the official link proving that it
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  Speaker 2: had been published in America. So fast, Thank you everyone,
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  Speaker 2: the official responded. Authorities say Wang repeatedly reported analytics and
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  Speaker 2: audience engagement data back to Chinese officials after publishing the
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  Speaker 2: propaganda articles for years in the US. In one August
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  Speaker 2: twenty twenty one exchange side in the plea agreement, Wang
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  Speaker 2: sent screenshots showing an article had to receive more than
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  Speaker 2: fifteen thousand views After officials requested edits to the story
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  Speaker 2: saying great. The official responded, according to the prosecutors, thank you, Leader,
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  Speaker 2: Wang replied, Now, Federal prosecutor say Wang never disclosed that
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  Speaker 2: the Chinese government was directing the content appearing on her website.
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  Speaker 2: The case became even more alarming to investigators because Wang
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  Speaker 2: ultimate he has sent it into public office. Now this
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  Speaker 2: isn't the only story that should be shocking you right now,
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  Speaker 2: which brings me to part two of what I was
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  Speaker 2: saying about just how concern you should be about what's
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  Speaker 2: happening with China. We now know from a New York
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  Speaker 2: Times report that their headline pretty much says it all. Quote,
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  Speaker 2: he offered a lawmaker's aid quick cash. Was he spying
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  Speaker 2: for China? A staff member on the House China Committee
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  Speaker 2: was promised ten thousand dollars for US policy insights on
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  Speaker 2: issues like Venezuela and rare earth minerals. When a man
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  Speaker 2: identifying himself as Chris Chen reached out this winter to
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  Speaker 2: an aid on the House Committee focus on threats from China.
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  Speaker 2: He came armed with a lucrative offer. The staff member,
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  Speaker 2: mister Chen proposed could earn ten thousand or more by
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  Speaker 2: barely lifting a finger. All he would need to do
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  Speaker 2: is agreed to phone calls every other week to share
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  Speaker 2: information about the committee's work and US foreign policy about China.
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  Speaker 2: Insights into US trade or national security issues, including the
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  Speaker 2: Trump administration's planned for Venezuela and the aftermath of the
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  Speaker 2: January military operation there would be especially valuable, mister Chen said.
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  Speaker 2: To sweeten the pot, mister Chen reportedly promised to send
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  Speaker 2: the AID two thousand dollars up front. The offer seemed
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  Speaker 2: too good to be true. Instead of quietly accepting the deal,
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  Speaker 2: the aid, whose identity The New York Times agreed to
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  Speaker 2: withhold because he works on sense of policy issues related
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  Speaker 2: to China, reported to his bosses on the House Select
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  Speaker 2: Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. The panel quickly concluded
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  Speaker 2: mister Chen was not the Singapore based business consultant he
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  Speaker 2: claimed to be, but instead likely a Chinese intelligence officer
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  Speaker 2: or contractor seeking a new recruit. By framing the initial
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  Speaker 2: offers a quote trial period. We learned mister Chang dangled
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  Speaker 2: the expectation of a longer relationship, obviously with more payments
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  Speaker 2: to come. It's a common recruitment offer to hook up
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  Speaker 2: spies with real cash for those that are willing to
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  Speaker 2: just drop a little information now. Rather than cut off contact,
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  Speaker 2: the committee's Republican majority staff agreed to keep talking to
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  Speaker 2: mister Chen. They record a series of calls this winter
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  Speaker 2: to learn more about mister Chen's tactics as well as
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  Speaker 2: his interests. Transcripts to those calls, which the Committee shared
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  Speaker 2: with The Times, alongside some of the recorded audio, depict
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  Speaker 2: a determined and at times impatient individual eager to earn
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  Speaker 2: the trust of his mark and get down to business,
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  Speaker 2: meaning having results for the Chinese Communist Party. Mister Chin
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  Speaker 2: mixed holiday greetings with elaborate questions about manufacturing, for example,
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  Speaker 2: in Vietnam and Mexico, as well as the future Venezuela's
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  Speaker 2: oil industry. Now, what's truly incredible about this story is
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  Speaker 2: the fact that the outreach by mister Chin to an
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  Speaker 2: aid on the very committee that's responsible for investigating Chinese
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  Speaker 2: national security threats appears to provide an unusually vivid portrait
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  Speaker 2: of how Beijing spy services seeks to gain access to
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  Speaker 2: sense of information from within the corridors of the power
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  Speaker 2: in Washington. We also know about Chinese spies that are
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  Speaker 2: sleeping with well former members of Congress while they were
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  Speaker 2: in Congress. You may remember the guy from California that
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  Speaker 2: was well sleeping with Fang Fang, the Chinese spy. We
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  Speaker 2: also found out there was another Chinese spy that for years,
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  Speaker 2: actually decades, was driving around a top Democratic senator. So
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  Speaker 2: if you think this is a one off, it's not.
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  Speaker 2: The scary part is right now there's hotelling how many
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  Speaker 2: people are willing to take money from China to sell
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  Speaker 2: out the United S's of America within our government all
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  Speaker 2: over the country.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to the forty seven Morning Update
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  Speaker 1: with Ben Ferguson. Please make sure you hit subscribe wherever
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  Speaker 1: and we will see you back here tomorrow.