Chuck Grassley Reacts to Latest Flynn Documents…


Many people forget that Senator Chuck Grassley has skin in this investigation.  Grassley has always suspected Flynn was framed.  Back in June of 2018, Senator Grassley was very suspicious of what Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was doing to facilitate the targeting of Michael Flynn when he said:

…”If the facts are inconsistent with the plea agreement, that would be an entirely different kettle of fish.”… (more)

Earlier today Grassley reacted to the previously hidden FBI documents showing that Michael Flynn was targeted for removal by the FBI “small group”.  WATCH:

“If the facts are inconsistent with the plea agreement, that would be an entirely different kettle of fish.”

JUNE 2018 – The Department’s reply to my May 11, 2018 letter seeking information about the circumstances surrounding Lt. General Michael Flynn’s reported conversations with the Russian ambassador and FBI records related to those conversations is insufficient. The letter only recounts a series of publicly known facts about Lt. General Flynn’s plea agreement and relies on improper excuses in refusing to provide the requested information. The Committee requires this information to fulfill its Constitutional function and its charge under Senate Rules to conduct oversight of the Department of Justice.

First, as you know, some of that information was first requested on a bipartisan basis before your confirmation. The Committee has waited patiently for much more than a year for the criminal inquiry related to Lt. General Flynn to conclude. It has been more than five months since his guilty plea. Thus, there is no longer any legitimate reason to withhold facts from the Senate about the circumstances of his conversations with the Russian ambassador and his FBI interview.

Second, the Department’s letter erroneously suggests that complying with Congressional oversight would result in “the reality or the appearance of political interference” in a “pending criminal prosecution.” There is no pending prosecution. The guilty plea was more than five months ago.

The Department’s letter describes in detail what everyone already knows. Lt. General Flynn admitted to the Statement of Offense with the able assistance of counsel. All that remains is for Lt. General Flynn to be sentenced. Simply disclosing facts to the Committee could not possibly “interfere” with the case at this late date, assuming those facts are consistent with the representations that prosecutors arranged for Lt. General Flynn to swear to in federal court.

If the facts are inconsistent with the plea agreement, that would be an entirely different kettle of fish.  (more pdf link)

FBI Notes Released – Show Plan to Frame Michael Flynn For “Logan Act” Violation and/or “Lying” About It – With Goal For Removal…


The first of the sealed documents provided to the Flynn defense have been unsealed.  The documents include emails between: FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, his FBI counsel Lisa Page, as well as FBI agent Peter Strzok and FBI Agent Joe Pientka in the lead-up to the January 24, 2017 interview of Michael Flynn.

This specific release is the court filing of five pages that was initially turned-over to the Flynn defense team last Friday. [The pdf is here]  [There are an additional 11 pages of documents from another production earlier today; those are not in this release]

The documents today also include handwritten notes taken by FBI counterintelligence chief William “Bill” Priestap; which show him both questioning and outlining the purpose of the interview: to remove National Security Advisor Michael Flynn.

According to the Priestap notes it appears the position of the FBI on January 23, 2017, was that Michael Flynn had violated the Logan Act by having a conversation with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak on December 29, 2016, prior to the inauguration.

This was a ridiculous position, there was no violation of the Logan Act; however, it was this position from which the questioning the next day, January 24 2017, would be based.

The next page of notes discusses the “Afterwards”:

The redactions are likely “the transcript“; where the FBI has the transcript of the call between Michael Flynn and Ambassador Kislyak.   The redaction would be continued to protect the source of the material (“sources and methods”).

Interestingly, on the second day, the actual day of the interview, it appears Bill Priestap had second thoughts and was questioning the goal of the interview: “I thought about it last night and I believe we should rethink this”…

FBI Asst. Director for Counterintelligence Bill Priestap then asks the question: “what is our goal? Truth/Admission or to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired?”

The premise of “wrongdoing” vis-a-vis a Logan Act violation was ridiculous.  As the incoming National Security Advisor Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn would be talking to many counterparts throughout the globe.   Even Priestap started to realize what they were doing was “playing games.”

Here’s the full release:

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John Solomon@jsolomonReports

BREAKING: Officials confirm that the handwritten notes about catching FLynn in lie belong to Former FBI Counterintelligence Chief William Priestap and more explosive documents to be released in next few days. https://justthenews.com/accountability/russia-and-ukraine-scandals/breaking-fbi-notes-detail-effort-catch-flynn-lie-get-him#.XqoLGZn5bgA.twitter …

General Mike Flynn | (Saul Loeb / Getty Images)

BREAKING: FBI notes detail effort to catch Flynn in lie to ‘get him fired’ as Trump adviser

‘What is our goal? Truth/Admission or to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired?’

justthenews.com

10.2K people are talking about this

[…] Multiple officials confirmed to Just the News that the author of the notes is William Priestap, the now-retired FBI Assistant Director for Counterintelligence and the ultimate supervisor for fired agent Peter Strzok, who led the Russia probe.

[…]  A special prosecutor is reviewing DOJ’s and the FBI’s handling of the Flynn prosecution, which led to the former Trump adviser and retired general pleading guilty to lying to the FBI under a plea deal with Special Counsel Robert Mueller in the Russia case.

Flynn’s lawyer Sidney Powell filed a court motion last week saying new evidence has emerged showing Flynn was “framed” and his conviction should be dismissed. The officials said the notes are part of that new evidence and had been withheld from Flynn’s defense team for years even though they were potential evidence of innocence.

More evidence is being produced in the next few days that will further illuminate the FBI’s conduct in the case that is now at the center of the DOJ investigation, officials said.  (more)

Keep in mind, the Mueller special counsel knew this all along…

Keep in mind, former DAG Rod Rosenstein knew this all along…

Also keep in mind, current FBI Director Chris Wray and current FBI Legal Counsel Dana Boente knew this all along….

These documents have been inside the DOJ and FBI for more than three years; while they prosecuted him and drove his family into bankruptcy.

Flynn Defense Gets More DOJ Documents – Previously Within Mueller Files?…


NOTE: Just before this was published the court has released the notes.  More will follow…

It appears U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Jensen from Missouri, who was brought in to review all of the DOJ case files surrounding Michael Flynn, has provided an additional eleven pages of exculpatory FBI notes.  Michael Flynn’s defense counsel Sidney Powell describes the latest notes as: “even more appalling than the Friday production“.

The Flynn defense and the DOJ (likely Jensen) have filed a joint motion with the court asking for the documents to be unsealed after a classification review.  However, as Techno Fog noted looking at the cover letter, it appears these notes were already in the custody of the Special Counsels Office (“DOJSCO”)

Breaking…. As this was being assembled, the court has unsealed some of the notes.

New thread with the notes will follow…

President Trump Hosts Business Roundtable on Reopening The Economy – 4:00pm ET Livestream…


President Trump participates in a roundtable discussion with various industry executives on the plan for reopening the American economy. Anticipated start time 4:00pm ET.

White House Livestream Link – Fox News Livestream – RSBN Livestream

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NEC Director Larry Kudlow Discusses Status of Economy and Forward Forecast…


National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow argues the worst of the coronavirus pandemic is over and the U.S. economy is getting ready to reopen. Kudlow outlines the scale of the current economic relief package how any further discussion should focus on policies to launch the economic recovery.

First Quarter GDP Drops 4.8% Amid COVID-19 Shutdown…


The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released the first quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) advanced estimate and the result is a 4.8% decline in economic activity. [BEA Here]

The revised fourth quarter GDP shows the economy was growing at 2.1 percent prior to the COVID-19 shutdown.  The severity of the change in GDP reflects a severe drop in consumer spending, essentially bringing the economy to a halt in March as the entire nation went into lock-down.  As the BEA explains:

The decline in first quarter GDP was, in part, due to the response to the spread of COVID-19, as governments issued “stay-at-home” orders in March. This led to rapid changes in demand, as businesses and schools switched to remote work or canceled operations, and consumers canceled, restricted, or redirected their spending.

The full economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be quantified in the GDP estimate for the first quarter of 2020 because the impacts are generally embedded in source data and cannot be separately identified. (more)

Digging down into the details the data shows what we all have seen.  There is some specific data that is noteworthy in the tables.

Consumer spending on food purchased for consumption at home jumped a remarkable 57.4 percent over the prior quarter [Table 3, line 10].  That stunning increase shows how much people started shopping at supermarkets; and keep in mind the increase only really started in the last month of the quarter (March).

Second quarter spending on durable goods dropped 77.3 percent compared to durable good purchases in the fourth quarter of 2019 [Table 3, line 4], and purchases of motor vehicles dropped 53.3 percent.

Despite the overall bad news, there is some more optimistic data.  While the export of goods dropped 1.2 percent, the import of goods dropped 11.4 percent [Table 1, line 20]. The net impact was positive for our GDP growth at +1.30 percent [Table 2, line 43].

The Import/Export dynamic is following a slightly longer term trend and indicates overall GDP is benefiting from expanded production in the U.S. and decreased purchasing of goods from overseas.  The primary contributors to this domestic economic gain appear to be coming from increased energy exports; a return of durable good manufacturing; and specifically increased investment in North American auto manufacturing.

Further, when we consider that: (1) Boeing was essentially shut-down in Q4 2019 and Q1 2020; and (2) China was not purchasing agriculture products; the net GDP growth in the import/export equation is strong and will likely only get stronger once we restart the economy.  Bottom line: as a nation we appear to be on a track to much less dependence on foreign products.

It does not seem coincidental this part of the economic shift is happening as the USMCA was ratified and corporations are re-evaluating the best location for future investment.  The U.S. stock market appears to be taking note of this investment trend-line.

Current‑dollar GDP decreased 3.5 percent, or $191.2 billion, in the first quarter to a level of $21.54 trillion. In the fourth quarter, GDP increased 3.5 percent, or $186.6 billion (tables 1 and 3). (link)

The data is troubling… behind the data are real people, real lives, real workers, real families; and it is challenging to remain optimistic amid all of the economic turmoil created by the COVID-19 pandemic and economic shut-down.  However, there is hope in the underlying data… once we get beyond this challenge.

Keep strong.  Keep faithful.  Keep optimistic.  Remain kind.

Take care of yourself and your family.

Live your best life.

You’re worth it.

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Dr. Anthony Fauci, Could he be the Handmaiden of the Devil Himself?


The Second Most Evil Person on the Planet Right Behind Bill Gates

Dr. Anthony Fauci has been the director  National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984. He’s been the ‘official’ spokesman for the coronavirus. He’s also in the back pocket of Bill Gates. He recently praised Brad Pitt’s performance of him on Saturday Night Live as ‘classy.’ Pitt mocked President Trump for his handling of the virus. Trump once called Pitt “A little wise guy.”

Trump needs to dump Fauci. Deborah Birx, too. Both are in the pocket of Bill Gates. Fauci saw to it that millions in taxpayer money was sent to the Wuhan lab that cooked up the coronavirus. Fauci and Gates want worldwide vaccination with the ‘mark of the beast,’ tagging technology. They both want medical tyranny. They don’t want you to have any choice about what goes into your body.

Gates, who has neither a college degree nor medical training, once said a vaccine would be the ‘final solution.’ Where have we heard that phrase before?

Gates is an arch eugenicist. Fauci is one of his demons—and since he’s in the medical field, let’s make him a blue one.

—Ben Garrison

Mr. President, Can We Return to ‘Made in America’ Again?


These are the unintended consequence of a Chinese produced COVID-19 crisis

Dr. Ileana Johnson Paugh image

Re-posted from The Conservative Tree house By  —— Bio and Archives—April 28, 2020

Mr. President, Can We Return to ‘Made in America’ Again?

On March 9, 2020, I flew back to D.C. The flight was more than half empty which was quite unusual—all flights to D.C. had been running at full capacity prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now remaining flights are almost empty with demand down in some cases by 96 percent.

A month later I wrote an article asking President Trump to open up the economy as it became more evident that the supply and delivery chains have been severely disrupted by the draconian quarantine-driven lockdowns of individual Democrat states, lockdowns which are yet to be lifted partially or fully. This resulted in closing small American businesses, the bread and butter of our economy. Open Up The U.S. Economy As Soon As Possible

Usually a quarantine is established to separate sick people from the healthy and, as the word says, it is meant for 40 days. But the state governors have decided to lock down healthy people, beyond the 40 days, with plans of more in-home confinement, robbing them of their freedom of assembly, religion, speech, and freedom of movement.

With 30 million out of work and fudged death numbers from COVID-19, the hysteria has built up to the point where people are afraid to even get out of their homes without a mask, much less go to work.

Unemployment checks, ginned up fear and panic, bailouts, and forced government closures of businesses based on random decisions of “essential vs. non-essential” have further exacerbated the problem of returning to work. Social interaction has become evil in less than two months of constant government PSAs on TV, radio, print media, and grocery stores.

Salesmen in America used to travel around the country to small towns USA in the 70s-80s and found every little town with a town square with stores and factories around the town where people would be employed. Those factories sit empty now, victims of the production exodus to Communist China or the buildings have been razed to make room for some other development. In light of the COVID-19 manufactured crisis which is destroying the world’s economy, the obvious question must be asked, why can we not build things in America again?

There are many products in short supply right now,  but freezers, upright and chest type, are something that we never thought would be hard to find. One store offered to order a freezer but it would not arrive earlier than June and, if things do not improve, it may be August or later.

A local owner of a furniture appliance store said that “there are no freezers, there is a national shortage.” An order could be placed but the supplier suggested the earliest tentative arrival as the end of May or June.

Then the  owner launched into a discussion about what is going on in this country and how wrong this shutdown is. He said, that if the mayor had told him that he had to close his shop (a business he has built over decades), he would have gone to jail rather than close his store. He was of the opinion that shutting down the country and businesses is completely ludicrous.  He also added that most who come into their store ask if the appliances are made in America.

In a 2015 Consumer Report recommendations for best freezers, about half of them were made at the time in the U.S.

In a 2019 interview, Marc Blumenthal said that “an Amana chest freezer and a Maytag upright freezer are made in Ottawa, Ohio.”

Should we as consumers put pressure on suppliers and store owners to have more made in America products and parts? Is it right to export most of our manufacturing to an inimical country, one ruled by the Communist Party at that, when it is not in our best interest?

If you can’t find a freezer right now and you wish to purchase one, perhaps you should join a grassroots campaign to bring back more manufacturing to America under American ownership.

There are many former manufacturing hubs around the country where factories are sitting empty. Can’t Americans who have the know-how re-purpose old factories? President Trump has certainly advocated so for a long time. America needs to manufacture its own products, especially key industries for our nation’s security such as defense, steel, medical equipment, computers, pharmaceuticals, meat packing, vitamins, appliances, and other essentials for our food supply.

These are the unintended consequence of a Chinese produced COVID-19 crisis. We have allowed China to control manufacturing in the U.S. of formerly ‘Made in America’ products. For a list of products still made in America check here and the reference list at the bottom of this article.

In order to return manufacturing to the U.S., we must train a better skilled workforce. Not everybody needs to go to college to get an unmarketable degree in social and racial justice for which there are so few jobs. It is noteworthy that you prefer justice to rule the world,  but can you feed and shelter your family with a worthless college degree? Many technical and manufacturing jobs pay so much better and you don’t have to spend your parents’ life savings on expensive college tuition. And there is always huge satisfaction at the end of the day for a skilled job well done.

Note: Made in the USA reference list:

The China Syndrome Timeline


Art of War the Chinese wrote. They understood the proverb, “The Enemy of My Enemy is My Friend.”

Andrew G. Benjamin image

Re-posted from the Canada Free press By  —— Bio and Archives—April 28, 2020

The China Syndrome Timeline

Conspiracy theories about the pandemic are now being bandied about regularly. And debunked before the conspiracy theories have arrived.

The desperate, abused public, is starved for accurate information. It has no recourse but to indulge in any flight of fancy.

What we don’t hear about are the conspiracies. At least the ones that really matter. These are what the media-political cabal allied with the Democrats, the Chinese, and Joe Biden, don’t want you to hear. What the Democrat’s wholly-owned media and tech big business, Google and Huawei, don’t want you to find out about, is the insurance policy. There’s always an insurance policy. And there always is someone who will cash it and cash in on it.

China’s leaders, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Joe Biden, are all on the same page

For example, check the date of the next:

Joe Biden Is The Only Man Who Can Save China In 2020

FORBES August 27, 2019:

“Biden is the best chance for a return to the status quo on trade,” says Scott McCandless, a principal at PwC in Washington DC and leader of their U.S. trade policy practice.

“Best chance” may be an understatement. Biden is China’s only chance….” 

China’s leaders, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Joe Biden, are all on the same page. It’s in the book that calls the China-US arrangement, “Business as Usual.”

Meaning, business good for China, the Obamas, Clintons and the Bidens, and a list of other Swamp Creatures on the take as they continue to sell out America.

Meanwhile, April 26th, China discharged its last COVID-19 patient.  So they say.

The Chinese infected the globe, arguably deliberately, and crushed the global economy

The communist state kept most infections to a small area around Wuhan. It kept secret the virus’ spread from the World Health Organization and from the United States, destroyed its samples (evidence), as the WHO covered up for China’s malevolence. Then China sent five million tourists from the Wuhan area around the world.

The Chinese infected the globe, arguably deliberately, and crushed the global economy. The target was not the world. Not the world’s economy. It was one nation’s economy and one nation’s leader. And the weapons could not be controlled once launched. Except in China.

Deliberate? Only one nation in the entire world is profiting from the war it unilaterally waged.

As you read this, China has wiped its hands clean and is walking away from it all.

Beijing, China’s political and cultural center, and Shanghai, China’s commercial and economic center, were left largely uninfected.

It begs the questions:

  • Can a bioweapon not admittedly designed as one become a bioweapon anyway when used as one?
  • Are viruses designed as bioweapons, to be used with deniability, and possibly, with an antidote?
  • Was there an antidote developed along with the bioweapon, a usual procedure for toxins, whereas just as the world got infected, China reduced and then eliminated the infection on its own soil?
  • Why did the legacy media come out in full force with a priori debunking of the bioweapon narrative before any information or investigation came in on the possible application and use of it?
  • Has China infiltrated our leftwing media and the DNC to do just that?
  • Is it possible to argue convincingly that Wuhan is closer to New York than Wuhan is to Beijing?

How The Media Is Colluding, Coordinating and Conspiring With China

THE TIMELINE

1. December 2019: NETFLIX board members Obama and Michelle released PANDEMIC.

2. December 2019: Trump forced China’s to sign the Trade Deal ending China’s economic advantages over trade imbalances. Ending the one-sided trillions of America’s wealth moving to China over the years and   too, not moving back. Trump said to the man and his party who said “it’s never coming back”:

NO MORE BUSINESS AS USUAL.

ESCAPE CLAUSE

2a. December 2019 a few days after the handshake, China reneges, and holds up the deal. China includes a last minute ESCAPE CLAUSE (not verbatim):

“This Agreement may be delayed, or nullified and voided, in case of Public Unrest, Acts of G-d, or “Pandemic”…”
3. Late December 2019 the first case of the virus in Wuhan was reported.

4. China was well-aware that their friend, PERSON A, was running for the presidency against their enemy, PERSON B. China was aware PERSON A represented Business as Usual, aka, The Swamp, and PERSON B represented No More Business as Usual. China takes out an insurance policy.

5. China was well-aware that PERSON B did exactly what he said he would do two decades ago. And again having said the same in 2015 and mid 2016. China was aware PERSON B was ahead of the curve as a candidate in understanding The Syndrome. They knew PERSON C, now in the film business about pandemics, earlier sold off America’s pandemic materials, that PERSON D amassed to protect the nation from The Syndrome promoted by PERSON A and PERSON C.

6. China was well-aware of the legacy global media’s, academe’s, and the weaponized DEEP STATE‘s obsessive hostility to PERSON B and the American People. Hatred enough to make the Party of Tolerance collude, coordinate and conspire, to initiate an ongoing coup against PERSON B and the People of the United States. Clearly, Big Money is behind it all. The yammering noisemakers the average American hears all day are simply the clueless lemmings and snowflakes incited by the elite’s propaganda ministry—the arm of the Democrat Party we know as the media.

7. PERSON A had set aside money from China over the years, tens, maybe hundreds of millions, into accounts across Europe, well washed, bleached, and laundered through the Ukraine. PERSON A had to be protected from the inquiring minds of PERSON B, his Team Giuliani, FOX NEWS, BREITBART, Canada Free Press, and one deplorable Devin Nunes. There folks, we have just unpacked the Ukraine Saga and the fraudulent Impeachment for you.

8. PERSON A was never a threat to China. Rather, he was China’s Point Man in the USA tasked with executing China’s Agenda. PERSON B was always a threat that will have slowed down America’s enemies and stopped them in their tracks. To China, PERSON B was unacceptable on every level.
9. The timing had to be just right, the year before the election, for PERSON B’s economy will have re-elected him for certain. The media and the Democrat Party understood this too well, for they too, Joe Biden & Co, and the Chinese, all read the Art of War the Chinese wrote. They understood the proverb, “The Enemy of My Enemy is My Friend.”

That proverb came from “The Art of War, written by Sun Tsu. The last we looked, Tsu was Chinese by his own admission.

Sun Tsu was born in China in 544 B.C. The Art of War never changed, no more than The Art of the Deal.

10. China chose right now, to cash in its insurance policy, to get PERSON A elected, and PERSON B, its enemy, defeated.

It chose Wuhan to cash in its policy from its paid-in premiums over years to Democrat and Republican alike, and is now patiently awaiting the payout in hundreds of trillions of yuans.

In China, these yuans add up to all smiles.

NIH Director in the Middle of China Virus Scandal


Trump Administration for at least two years has been urging the FBI and the NIH to crack down on Chinese exploitation and theft of sensitive U.S. Government research

Cliff Kincaid image

Re-posted from the Canada Free Press By  —— Bio and Archives—April 28, 2020

Dr. Francis Collins, NIH Director in the Middle of China Virus Scandal

Most of the media were too busy covering the phony Russia-gate story to notice how China has been directly involved in controversial coronavirus research funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Since the media ignored the threat, they are now charging President Trump with ignoring the threat and peddling “conspiracy theories” about it. This is how the fake news media deceive the American people on a matter of life and death.

Evidence shows that the Trump Administration for at least two years has been urging the FBI and the NIH to crack down on Chinese exploitation and theft of sensitive U.S. Government research.

Media have treated news of a suspension of NIH funds to the EcoHealth Alliance as a “conspiracy theory”

A Harvard biochemist who claimed backing from the NIH has already been charged in a scheme to benefit China.

True to form, our media have treated news of a suspension of NIH funds to the EcoHealth Alliance, an American group working with the Wuhan Institute of Virology, as a “conspiracy theory” led by President Trump. Since news about the suspension of funds was leaked to Matthew Boyle of Breitbart News, a series of stories alleging this is all a “conspiracy theory” involving Trump have appeared in the following left-wing publications: Politico, New York Magazine, Business Insider, Talking Points Memo,  and Raw Story.

This is how reporters justify (to themselves) ignoring the scandal that was developing right under their noses. They would rather run interference for the Chinese regime than inform the American people about controversial research that may have spawned the Chinese release of the coronavirus.

In the middle of this scandal is NIH director Dr. Francis Collins, an Obama holdover who publicly affirms his Christian faith but has a long history of collaborating with the communist Chinese regime.

This is what the media really fear – disclosure of evidence that the Chinese conducted dangerous virus experiments with the help of the Obama Administration.

Collins had served as an advisor on healthcare to Barack Hussein Obama during his 2008 campaign

Here’s the background: Collins had served as an advisor on healthcare to Barack Hussein Obama during his 2008 campaign and on his transition team. After he was appointed by Obama as NIH Director in 2009, he began the process of deep cooperation with China, This led to the  U.S.-China Program for Biomedical Research, which provided financial awards for U.S. and Chinese “collaborating investigators” and sent millions of dollars  through the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), whose director is Dr. Anthony S. Fauci.

Collins appears in a 2010 report that includes a photograph with Professor Chen Yiyu, President of the National Science Foundation of China, signing a memorandum of understanding for joint medical research involving diseases “severely threatening mankind’s lives.” Another story and photo showed Collins exchanging gifts with Chinese Minister of Health Chen Zhu during a visit to Beijing, saying they worked “to strengthen the already robust research collaborations between the two countries” and “promote innovation and strategic medical research.”

On October 14, 2010, Collins and a delegation paid a visit to Peking University (PKU) Health Science Center, as a story indicates that the participants expressed a hope for “a more extensive partnership on scientific research, academic exchange, and personnel training in future…”

Collins had been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the National Medal of Science for leading the Human Genome Project, whose purpose was to understand DNA in order to fight disease. That veered out of control when the Chinese component spawned genetically-engineered babies.

Chinese government program to recruit National Institutes of Health-funded researchers, in order to “steal intellectual property” and “establish shadow laboratories in China

His continued directorship of the NIH came into doubt after Donald J. Trump was elected president. Pro-life groups such as the Charlotte Lozier Institute attacked Collins for his “support of human embryonic stem cell research, human cloning, and the creation of ethically-questionable human-animal chimeras.”

More than 40 conservative Republicans wrote to the president in May 2017 urging him to fire Collins because of his support for human embryonic stem cell research.

Nevertheless, Collins was retained as NIH Director at the urging of Senator Roy Blunt and other “moderate” GOP members of the Senate and House. That was a big mistake. Collins’ ongoing relationship with the Chinese medical and scientific establishment finally got him into trouble in 2019 when Blunt arranged an April 11 Senate hearing on oversight of the NIH budget.

At the hearing, Blunt described a Chinese government program to recruit National Institutes of Health-funded researchers, in order to “steal intellectual property” and “establish shadow laboratories in China,” and to “help the Chinese government obtain confidential information about NIH research grants.” He referred to how China’s Thousand Talents Plan (TTP), a program controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, was threatening “the integrity of the NIH system.”

Harvard University professor and two Chinese nationals had been charged with crimes in several “China-related cases”

Meanwhile, a subcommittee of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee held a hearingon November 19, 2019. Senator Rob Portman revealed the problem was so serious that “…we learned that Thousand Talents Plan members worked at National Labs on sensitive research and maintained security clearances.”

In fact, the Senate subcommittee released a report, Threats to the U.S. Research Enterprise: China’s Talent Recruitment Plans, which said, “NIH has attempted to address the threats presented by foreign talent recruitment plans like the TTP, but significant gaps in grant integrity efforts remain unaddressed. These gaps have made it difficult for NIH to engage in proactive efforts to prevent foreign exploitation of U.S.-funded research.”

On January 20, 2020, as the coronavirus was spreading inside the United States, the Department of Justice announced that a Harvard University professor and two Chinese nationals had been charged with crimes in several “China-related cases.” Dr. Charles Lieber, Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University, was described as a contractual participant in China’s Thousand Talents Plan between 2012 and 2017. But the complaint says Lieber lied to federal investigators about his involvement with the Thousand Talents Plan.

Lieber’s “sponsors,” as identified on his web site, include the National Institutes of Health, the Office of Naval Research, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency, and MITRE, a think tank.

 

 

Released accidentally or intentionally, the virus has destroyed millions of lives and our economy

As the Trump Administration was trying to get Collins to pay more attention to the problem, he acknowledged under questioning by Senator Blunt at the April 2019 Senate hearing that there were “egregious instances where our funding of grants in this country is being taken advantage of by individuals who are not following the appropriate rules.” He said the FBI was investigating “vigorously” and that some of the information about the problem was classified.

Collins told Blunt that investigations of NIH-funded foreign scientists were ongoing at more than 55 U.S. institutions. (see the  video of the hearing and the Collins testimony at the 40 minute and 59 seconds mark). In a letter, he said “This kind of inappropriate influence is not limited to biomedical research; it has been a significant issue for defense and energy research for some time.”

It looks like a classic case of Americans supplying the rope the communists needed to hang us. Whether it was released accidentally or intentionally, the rope in this case was a virus that destroyed millions of lives and our economy.