Washington Two U.S. officials who were familiar with the classified briefings told NBC News that the FBI has warned a few U.S. lawmakers that the Chinese Communist Party is trying to fabricate stories to paint them negatively due to their support for Taiwan and hawkish views of Beijing.
Due to the sensitive nature of the briefings, the U.S. officials asked not to be named. They claimed that one of the false narratives being spread by the CCP and referenced in FBI briefers is that these senators are supporting Taiwan because they accepted bribes from Taiwan.
One of the two U.S. officials told NBC News that the CCP is attempting to discredit congressional support for Taiwan’s democracy by portraying it as corrupt and not in the best interests of the American people. It won’t function.
The briefings took place in the fall, according to the authorities.
According to a third source, a House politician with expertise in national security issues, they were aware of the purported CCP scheme but were not given a personal briefing.
The FBI remained silent. In response to a thorough set of questions for this story, Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said: “The information is completely false, and the Chinese government has never had any intention of disparaging these congressmen. The question of whether they have taken bribes from Taiwan is unrelated to China and should be looked into by the appropriate US authorities.
According to U.S. authorities, the confidential talks were referred to as defensive briefings, which means that the FBI wanted to provide the targeted individuals with important information in order to prevent the attacks, even if the suspected CCP plot had not yet been executed.
When the FBI discovers that top officials are the target of foreign intelligence operations, the bureau frequently gives them defensive briefings.
The future of Taiwan, a self-governing democracy and a vital U.S. ally in Asia that China claims as its territory, has been a major source of tension between Beijing and Washington in recent years.
The president of Taiwan gave then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the highest civilian accolade, during an unexpected visit in 2022. Pelosi was a vocal opponent of China’s human rights abuses. Beijing officials were enraged by her visit and began military preparations, including live-fire drills, around Taiwan. She was the highest-ranking American official to visit Taiwan since former Speaker Newt Gingrich did so in 1997.
Similar visits to Taipei have been conducted by other politicians. To celebrate Lai Ching-te, the pro-independence candidate who had won the presidency only weeks earlier, bipartisan members of the special House committee looking into the CCP traveled to Taiwan in February. Additionally, a bipartisan party of six congressmen traveled to Taiwan for an official congressional visit in May to meet with Lai, led by House Foreign Affairs Chairman Mike McCaul, a Republican from Texas.
When asked if they had gotten a classified briefing on the subject, a number of members of the House Intelligence Committee and the select House committee on the CCP chose not to comment. Lawmakers are not allowed to discuss any such confidential briefings in public.
The chairman of the select House committee on the CCP, Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., stated that it is no secret that Beijing has been targeting American leaders and other Americans, but he did not remark on any specific plot by the CCP.
Moolenaar told NBC News that the CCP will use all available tools to undermine our freedoms and way of life. Therefore, we can anticipate all of these things, including the hacking of communications from high-ranking authorities.
According to U.S. intelligence officials and researchers, China has been using more sophisticated and aggressive strategies since the 2022 midterm elections to try to deepen political rifts in American society and discredit congressional candidates Beijing considers to be antagonistic to the regime’s interests, particularly regarding Taiwan’s status.
China did not seem to support either candidate in the 2024 presidential election; instead, it concentrated on certain races farther down the ballot with secret disinformation campaigns that deployed artificial intelligence techniques and American-looking bogus accounts. According to a Microsoft investigation, McCaul, Rep. Barry Moore, R-Ala., and Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., were among the targets. At the time, a representative for the Chinese Embassy stated that China had “no intention” to and would “not interfere in the U.S. election,” calling the allegations “full of malicious speculations.”
China’s attempts to fuel polarization and undermine Americans’ faith in the democratic process, according to U.S. intelligence officials and analysts, are a part of a larger, long-term campaign that also involves international information operations aimed at damaging America’s reputation outside.
Chinese disinformation campaigns have paralleled what U.S. authorities said is a coordinated attempt to use cyberattacks and espionage to acquire U.S. military secrets and intellectual property.
The White House claimed earlier this month that a Chinese hacking campaign that targeted the United States and other nations was more extensive and severe than previously thought. According to a White House official, the CCP had hacked at least eight American telecom providers to eavesdrop on the calls and messages of American individuals.
China strongly rejects the United States’ unfounded smear assaults on China, according to a statement released this month by a representative for the Chinese Embassy in Washington.
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