Representative Jim Banks (R-IN) has urged Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to initiate an immediate inquiry into the multiple visits made by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to China during his time with the Nebraska and Minnesota National Guards.
In his correspondence to the Pentagon, Banks has raised significant apprehensions regarding whether Walz, a former high-ranking service member, appropriately disclosed his frequent overseas excursions, potentially jeopardizing national security.
Walz, who served in the National Guard for nearly 24 years, reportedly undertook almost 30 trips to China between 1989 and 2005, several of which occurred while he held a security clearance as part of his responsibilities.
“He and his wife also organized trips to China from 1994 to 2003 at least annually. During this whole period, Walz remained a service member in either the Nebraska or Minnesota National Guards and presumably held a clearance for much or all of this time. Walz claimed in 2016 that he had traveled to China nearly 30 times; it is likely that at least a dozen of these trips occurred while he was a guardsman,” according to the letter.
“The CCP can use this optimism to exploit naïve foreign visitors, particularly visitors who are military servicemembers. Walz bragged after one trip to China that “they gave me more gifts than I could bring home” and that “I will never be treated that well again.””
Banks insists that the Governor’s visits to China, a rival nation, should have undergone thorough examination and received prior authorization from security authorities, in accordance with the standard procedure for any individual holding clearance.
However, there is mounting apprehension that Walz may have bypassed these protocols by not disclosing his journeys and the details of his engagements with Chinese officials.
“Clearance holders often require prior approval and threat briefings for foreign travel to prepare them for the risks of hostile foreign intelligence activity,” said Banks.
“These intelligence threat concerns are far greater when a security clearance holder travels to an adversary nation like the People’s Republic of China, especially when that clearance holder travels there on dozens of occasions. Clearance holders who return from foreign travel are also required to complete debriefing questionnaires for their security office, detailing their trip and reporting any potentially suspicious interactions that occurred during their travels.”
Banks also condemned Walz for his dismissive stance on the U.S.-China relationship, citing the governor’s 2016 statement in which he asserted that the U.S. and China did not have an “adversarial relationship” and emphasized the “many areas of cooperation” between them.
The congressman pointed out the incongruity of Walz selecting China as his honeymoon destination and arranging his wedding to coincide with the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre.
In his letter, Rep. Banks posed several urgent questions concerning Walz’s security clearance and adherence to foreign travel protocols. Banks sought clarification on whether Walz reported his travels to the appropriate security office, obtained prior approval for his trips, and received any warnings about potential security risks associated with his frequent visits to China.
“Given Walz’s history of pro-China positions and his already irresponsible personal decision to repeatedly travel to an adversary nation while holding a clearance, the most plausible explanation for this lapse in security is that Waltz may have failed or refused to comply with Department of Defense foreign travel reporting requirements,” Banks wrote in the letter.
“If Walz did fail or refuse to report foreign travel to an adversary nation to his superiors, the Department of Defense must investigate this reckless disregard for our national security and set the public record straight about this security failure.”
On August 20, 2024, Secretary Austin was asked for a comprehensive reply, urging the Pentagon to treat this issue with the utmost seriousness and to offer the American public the transparency they are entitled to.
New: @Jim_Banks sends letter to Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin questioning how @Tim_Walz, “a senior enlisted guardsman, presumably with a Secret security clearance,” travelled “to China regularly on unofficial business without raising red flags?”
Letter: pic.twitter.com/WEW5RMF9lP
— Philip Melanchthon Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) August 13, 2024
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