Judicial Watch: ‘China is Happy’: Emails Reveal Biden DHS and FBI Investigations of Tim Walz and Communist China

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today it received 47 pages of records from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit about Gov. Tim Walz’s connections to the Chinese Communist Paty. DHS and the FBI counter-intelligence investigation into Walz’s CCP connections determined that “China is happy” with Walz being selected as Kamala Harris’s running mate on the 2024 Democratic presidential ticket. Walz’s connections to the CCP were extensive and a concern to the intelligence community, according to the documents produced.

The documents were released in response to a Judicial Watch March 2025 FOIA lawsuit for lawsuit  (Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (No. 1:25-cv-00625)) for:

All documents and communications in the DHS Microsoft Teams group chat “NST NFT Bi-Weekly Sync” from July 1, 2024, to present, including all accompanying, uploaded, or imbedded attachments and documents, referring or relating to Minnesota Governor Timothy J. Walz (or the office and/or staff of Governor Walz) 

All Intelligence Information Reports and Regional Intelligence Notes (including these documents that have been titled or categorized differently) from November 1, 2023, to present related to Minnesota Governor Timothy J. Walz (or the office and/or staff of Governor Walz).

All requests for assistance or referrals to other federal agencies regarding Minnesota Governor Timothy J. Walz

An email dated August 6, 2024, the day Walz was officially named the Democrat vice presidential nominee, shows Homeland Security personnel discussing how they were aware communist China had a plan to target politicians likely to end up in DC, specifically Walz and Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo.

A Homeland Security official whose name is redacted states:

Walt’s got the Vp. You all have no idea how these feeds into what prc [People’s Republic of China] has been doing here with him and local gov. It’s seriously a line of the intel. Target someone who is perceived they can get to DC

Another official responds: “this speaks too to the rin [raw intelligence] you reviewed for us”.

A participant adds: “the perception narrative that has been pushed with one of the local ngos [non-governmental organizations] had direct ties to the former Gov here in Nevada. FBI has lead on a couple of things the only issue is being in the 9^th circuit.”

A participant states: “Good to know and yes there involvement with HSI [Homeland Security Investigations] and fbi on things here”.

Another adds: “If anyone has interest I can give provide context in a classified setting.”

An official noted: “But this has more of strategic impact then obviously the general public knows”.

A BBC article titled “‘Harris’s no 2 taught in China’: Chinese internet reacts to Walz.” is posted to the non-classified, Microsoft Teams group chat, on August 7, 2024, by a redacted Homeland Security participant in the group.

The article states that Walz “spent a year in the south-eastern province of Guandong in 1989 – a topic that was trending on Weibo with 12 million views.”

 “The fact that it happened in 1989 – the year of the Tiananmen Square massacre – was not lost on those commenting on Chinese social media,” the article adds.

A participant in the August 7, 2024, group chat with a name states: “China is happy”

Another noted: “you need components”

Someone adds: “and CIFTs [Counterintelligence Task Force] too”

A group chat participant states: “with FBI mission in the CI [counterintelligence] field i believe they need to get included….” 

Another clarifies: “CITF [corrects the previous acronym above]”

A group chat participant adds: “I think this conversation is FOIA-able…”

A participant states: “makes a great point about CITF coordination, I will state though that folks need to be cognizant of who the primary players even with FBI being the executive agency for CITF. ie dealing with SAPs [Special Access Programs] here so CI depends on what the problem set is and who will take point”

On October 29, 2024, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said a Homeland Security whistleblower told the committee that Walz was a “target” of the Chinese Communist Party as “someone they can get to DC.” The whistleblower also disclosed “that officials from DHS’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) have been involved in the Department’s investigative and/or intelligence work connected with the CCP, the state of Minnesota, and Governor Walz.”

The documents show a skeptical internal DHS discussion about Wang’s contacts with Walz.

In the nation-state threat Bi-weekly sync conversation dated September 12, 2024, a DHS participant who has a redacted dhs.gov email address states: “I need someones thoughts (please keep internal to DHS)”

Another participant explains: “so this person requested a meeting with Walz due to the house investigation they have walz for his relationship china. Then he drafted this letter for upcoming travel he has to china assuming he will get detained”.

The person who requested the meeting with Walz, Chang Wang, is a U.S. citizen, an attorney, adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota, and vice chair of the Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans. Wang writes to Walz that he fears being “forcibly detained” upon an upcoming visit to China. He also includes a copy of his itinerary while in China which includes being a witness in a court case.

One participant responds: “I read this as TNR but what am I missing”.

Another adds: “that’s what it looks like…begs the question, if he anticipates being detained, why go? weird.” 

Someone replies: “I know right”.

Another group chat participant adds: “I am working with hsi (Homeland Security Investigations) on it”.

A question follows: “what is TNR?”

Another participant clarifies: “transnational repression”.

One person elaborates: “i’m not sure it counts as TNR since it seems to assume being snatched while in China, so it isn’t crossing borders. if he claims they have been pressuring or seeking to coerce him while he’s home in, apparently MN, that would count as TNR. I don’t know the background on him. [Redacted] is my TNR lead.” 

Another offers: “can reach [redacted] as well, my China lead.

A group chat participant writes: “mind you, if he’s a known dissident they probably were pressuring him while he was in the U.S. If he went back anyway, Navalny style, and got pinched, it’s just that part that might not be treated as TNR. There’s no TNR statute per se (only proposals) so FBI investigates it as elements of the underlying offenses (like the stalking, extortion, assault, kidnapping, etc.” 

Another group chat participant adds: “Not my area but his itinerary entry for 9/29 is interesting appears he is a witness for the plaintiffs in a court case. Could be related to why he thinks he may be detained. Also is there additional context on why he requested that meeting or the proposed topic?”

“These documents uncovered by Judicial Watch show that the Biden administration covered up intelligence concerns about Tim Walz’s connections to China. This is a major scandal,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. 

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