Comer, Grothman Probe DOJ’s Process Used to Investigate Foreign, Non-Traditional Intelligence Officers Spying on the U.S.

WASHINGTON-As part of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability's investigation of Chinese espionage efforts targeting U.S. military bases, Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs Chairman Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) are calling on the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to examine the Department of Justice's (DOJ) methods used to investigate and prosecute foreign nationals sent to the United States to collect sensitive information who are not professionally trained intelligence officers. As part of the Committee's investigation, it has learned Chinese nationals, sometimes posing as tourists and food delivery drivers, have repeatedly accessed, or attempted to access, U.S. military bases and other sensitive government facilities as often as one hundred times in recent years.

"The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is investigating how the U.S. Department of Justice investigates and prosecutes foreign nationals sent to the United States to collect sensitive information but are not professionally trained intelligence officers (IO), or 'non-traditional collectors'," wrote the lawmakers. "Foreign intelligence organizations often utilize traditional intelligence officers for higher-risk collection, but they also use non-traditional collectors such as foreign nationals on student visas, to collect less high-risk information. While these individuals might not be professionally trained intelligence officers, they may still be positioned and motivated to collect information aimed at jeopardizing U.S. national security."

In October, the Oversight Committee sent a letter to Department of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and FBI Director Christopher Wray seeking a briefing based on reports that hundreds of Chinese nationals have been detected illegally trespassing or attempting to trespass on U.S. military instillations. Following the letter, the Oversight Committee has received two briefings on the matter and held a classified hearing with Department of Defense and DOJ witnesses.

"As the country's lead counterintelligence agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation is responsible for detecting, investigating, and prosecuting foreign intelligence services that employ human and technical means to illegally gather sensitive information about the United States that adversely affects our national interests," continued the lawmakers. "The briefings and hearing have heightened our concern that the FBI does not dedicate the proper resources, or have adequate processes in place, to detect, monitor, and counter, non-traditional collectors."

Read the full letter to GAO Comptroller General Dodaro here.

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