Joe Biden’s nominee to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and
Explosives had another round of bad press when it was discovered that he
didn’t disclose his media hit with Chinese communist television. The
state media apparatus, which is viewed as a propaganda arm of Beijing
and had to register as a foreign agent in 2019, invited David Chipman
into their spin machine to discuss the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012.
Chipman seemed to play the part of the good soldier and go along with
the propaganda (via Fox News):
President
Biden's nominee to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and
Explosives (ATF) failed to disclose to the Senate a media appearance on
Chinese state TV, which may have been used as propaganda by the
communist state to cover up a mass stabbing of children.
Biden's
ATF nominee David Chipman appeared on a Chinese state-run media network,
China Global Television Network (CGTN), previously known as CCTN, in
December 2012 to discuss the government's response to the Sandy Hook
Elementary School massacre, one of the deadliest shootings in U.S.
history that killed 28 people and injured two.
CGTN, which reaches
30 million households within the U.S., "is an arm of China’s propaganda
machine. It is controlled by the Communist Party and serves as part of
what Mr. Xi has called Beijing’s ‘publicity front.’" as described by the
New York Times. In 2019, the Department of Justice (DOJ) required CGTN
to register as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration
Act, or FARA.
[…]
Chipman did not disclose his 2012 appearance on CGTN in written responses to the Senate's questions for the record.
However,
he listed at least 16 pages of previous interviews and quotes he
provided to media, including at least two events and interviews in which
he spoke about the Newtown Massacre. None of the information listed
included the CGTN media appearance.
A
letter from Senate Judiciary Republicans cited this media hit as
another reason why there should be a second hearing on Chipman:
The
fact is that new information about Mr. Chipman’s unfitness for office
seems to come out daily. Just today we learned from news reports—not Mr.
Chipman—that he had appeared in 2012 on Chinese state television to
discuss the Sandy Hook massacre. The spectacle of Mr. Chipman discussing
gun-violence in America while being asked about our gun laws by an
organ that—even YouTube notes—is a propaganda machine, funded by the
Chinese government, is beyond comprehension. He doesn’t appear to
dispute this obvious propaganda by the China Global Television Network,
designed to malign the United States…
In fact, he seems to agree
with it when asked. Politics is supposed to stop at the water’s edge.
It’s shocking that Mr. Chipman’s gun-control agenda not only didn’t, but
it eagerly found a willing host among the Chinese communists. We ask
again that Mr. Chipman have a second hearing to address these
allegations. This Committee, under your leadership, shouldn’t sweep
marginalized voices under the rug, nor take corroborated allegations of
racism lightly.
Yes, the racism allegations
were what set off this renewed push to yank Chipman back onto the Hill
for more questioning. There have been disturbing accounts of racist
remarks made by Chipman about black ATF agents who were up for
promotion. He reportedly insinuated that these black ATF agents had
cheated to get on the list. You can certainly play the ‘if this were a
Republican game.’ Racism, questions about whether he can do the job,
rank-and-file not so much sold on him, and now being a mouthpiece for
Chinese propaganda. Not good.
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