DOJ ENDS PROGRAM DESIGNED TO CATCH CHINESE SPIES

Several Republican senators are challenging Attorney General Merrick Garland for his Justice Department’s decision to end a program to thwart Chinese spies and asking how the Biden administration will now combat China’s espionage on U.S. soil.

Led by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), the lawmakers penned a letter to Garland last week inquiring about the recent termination of the so-called China Initiative, which was launched by the Trump administration in 2018 to preserve America’s technological edge. The program was specifically designed to identify and prosecute those engaged in hacking, stealing trade secrets, and conducting economic espionage for the Chinese government inside the U.S.

“On Feb. 23, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced it was effectively ending the China Initiative and implementing a new ‘Strategy for Countering Nation-State Threats,’ which will subsume the China Initiative’s work in addition to efforts related to countries such as Russia, Iran, and North Korea,” the lawmakers wrote Thursday.

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. Olsen called this effort a “strategy for countering nation-state threats.”

By NC ScoutPublished On: March 29, 2022Categories: UncategorizedComments Off

About the Author: NC Scout

NC Scout is the nom de guerre of a former Infantry Scout and Sergeant in one of the Army’s best Reconnaissance Units. He has combat tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He teaches a series of courses focusing on small unit skills rarely if ever taught anywhere else in the prepping and survival field, including his RTO Course which focuses on small unit communications. In his free time he is an avid hunter, bushcrafter, writer, long range shooter, prepper, amateur radio operator and Libertarian activist. He can be contacted at [email protected] or via his blog at brushbeater.wordpress.com .