State AG Subpoenas Heartland-Based Nonprofit Allegedly Acting as an Arm of Foreign Intelligence Service
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s office on Wednesday subpoenaed a St. Louis nonprofit tied to the Chinese Communist Party, according to a notice exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The St. Louis Overseas Chinese Service Center is one of at least seven nonprofits in the United States run by the United Front Work Department, a CCP “intelligence service” that specializes in coordinating influence operations, a DCNF investigation found in June 2023.
“With the [civil investigative demand] issued today, Attorney General Bailey is subpoenaing documents that will further his investigation into alleged ties between the Chinese government, the Chinese Communist Party, and the non-profit Chinese Service Center organized under Missouri state law,” Bailey’s office told the DCNF.
Launched between 2014 and 2017, the six other U.S. OCSC branches are located in San Francisco; St. Paul, Minnesota; Omaha, Nebraska; Charlotte, North Carolina; Houston; and Salt Lake City, according to Chinese state media reports.
In addition to its Chinese intelligence ties, the OCSC program has introduced its international representatives to officers belonging to China’s national police authority, the Ministry of Public Security, the DCNF previously reported.
During a 2018 trip to China, U.S.-based OCSC representatives, including the St. Louis OCSC director, met with MPS officials, who demonstrated how they’re leveraging new technology to conduct “cross-border remote justice services” overseas, the DCNF found.
The U.S. Department of Justice has repeatedly warned that MPS conducts covert intelligence operations on U.S. soil, including “illicit, transnational repression schemes.”
“This investigation will inquire into, among other things, the acts and omissions of Subject(s) in connection with the solicitation and reporting of charitable funds in or from Missouri,” Bailey’s civil investigative demand states, according to his office.
“The Attorney General has reason to believe that the Subject(s) have engaged in, are engaging in, or are about to engage in, deception, fraud, false promises, misrepresentation, unfair practices, and/or the concealment, suppression, or omission of material facts in connection with the solicitation of charitable funds.”
Bailey’s office characterized the OCSC network as being “loyal” to the CCP and working to “advance China’s foreign policy objectives.”
He first launched an investigation into the St. Louis OCSC on June 28, 2023, after Missouri Rep. Ann Wagner brought the matter to his attention following the DCNF’s report.
“The information you have shared with my office about a possible CCP outpost within the borders of Missouri is deeply concerning and will receive the full attention of my office,” Bailey wrote to Wagner at the time. “The threat posed by the CCP is very real.”
The Chinese Communist Party has been trying to expand its influence globally and we must put a stop to any efforts to gain a foothold in America. https://t.co/4iwARs26ZT
— Ann Wagner (@RepAnnWagner) June 23, 2023
Subsequently, 10 Republican senators led by North Carolina’s Ted Budd called on the DOJ to provide a briefing about the OCSC network on July 10, 2023, the DCNF reported.
“The ongoing discovery of additional OCSCs raises the question of whether DOJ’s response sufficiently addresses the threat, particularly because OCSCs have openly operated for several years and their activities have been reportedly documented in Chinese state media and social media posts,” the senators’ letter to the DOJ said.
On the same day, another group of eight Republican senators led by Tennessee’s Marsha Blackburn urged the DOJ and FBI to launch an investigation into the OCSCs, the DCNF reported.
“The CCP’s intent is clear with its operation of these OCSCs: to intimidate and surveil Chinese Americans with dissenting opinions,” the letter Blackburn’s group sent to the DOJ and FBI said.
In late July 2023, Nebraska Sens. Deb Fischer and Pete Ricketts introduced bills tasking the FBI and Department of Defense with investigating the OCSCs, the DCNF reported.
“Our investigation centers on allegations that the communist government of China is attempting to establish a footprint in the Show Me State,” Bailey said on Wednesday. “My office takes these allegations very seriously and will continue to fight for and protect Missouri citizens and consumers.”
The St. Louis OCSC did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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