FIRST ON FOX: An official within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told colleagues that Vice President Kamala Harris’ decision to appoint Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate “contributes to” the activities the People’s Republic of China (VRC) ‘executed together with him’. local government,” warned that Beijing could “target” him to influence U.S. policy.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., launched an investigation into Walz’s alleged “longstanding” ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in August.

Last month, Comer subpoenaed DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for records related to these alleged connections after a whistleblower alerted the committee to the existence of an unclassified Microsoft Teams group chat among DHS employees, as well as additional intelligence reports which allegedly contained information about Walz’s activities. alleged ties to the CCP.

COMER DHS DHS FOR SERVICES RELATED TO WALZ’S ALLEGED TIES TO THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY

Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Governor Tim Walz speaks during a campaign rally at Burns Park in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on Monday, October 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

On Tuesday, Comer wrote a letter to Mayorkas, disclosing that DHS “did not respond to the subpoena.”

Now Comer has unilaterally released some of the internal DHS communications it received from the whistleblower.

“Walt’s (sic) got the Vp,” the message reads, with the sender’s identity redacted. “You all have no idea how this contributes to what the PRC has done here to him and the local government.”

The official added: “It’s seriously a line of information. Target someone who is believed to be able to reach DC.”

Message from a DHS employee on Microsoft Teams, provided to the House Oversight Committee by a whistleblower.

“The Commission is releasing the above message as an example of communications within the DHS holdings in which DHS officials express concerns that the CCP is targeting politicians and their influence operations at the state and local level – and in particular their concerns about the CCP’s influence operations in this regard. to Governor Walz,” Comer wrote in a letter to Mayorkas on Tuesday.

Comer explained that the message was sent via a Microsoft Teams group chat among DHS employees, titled “NST NFT Bi-Weekly Sync,” the same chat identified in Comer’s subpoena.

Meanwhile, Comer said a whistleblower has provided further information to the committee indicating that officials from DHS’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis and Homeland Security Investigations have been involved in the agency’s investigative and/or intelligence work related to the CCP , the state of Minnesota and Walz.

Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, speaks during a hearing in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, March 20, 2024. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“The Committee’s concerns about the arrest operations of the CCP elite seeking to influence public officials such as Governor Walz have increased given recent reports on Governor Walz’s extensive travel history, unusual interactions in the People’s Republic of China, and the recent inability to answer basic questions about to answer his involvement in China. ,” Comer wrote.

Comer is also subpoenaing all intelligence reports and regional intelligence memoranda from November 2023 to the present relating to Walz.

Last month, Comer revealed that Walz was “involved and collaborating with” Chinese entities, making him “sensitive” to the CCP strategy of “elite conquest,” which aims to co-opt influential figures in elite political, cultural and academic circles to ‘to conquer the elite’. influence on the United States to the benefit of the communist regime and to the detriment of the Americans.”

HOUSE SUPERVISION INVESTIGATES WALZ ON ‘LONG LONG CONNECTIONS’ WITH CHINA

Comer has pointed to reports that Walz, while working as a teacher in the 1990s, organized a trip to China for students at Alliance High School. The costs were reportedly “paid by the Chinese government.”

Comer investigates Walz’s private company founded in 1994, called “Educational Travel Adventures, Inc.”, which coordinated annual student trips to China until 2003 and was headed by Walz.

Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Governor Tim Walz shakes hands with comedian George Lopez before Walz speaks during a campaign event at Trevor Browne High School on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

The company was reportedly “dissolved four days after he took power in Congress in 2007.”

Comer said Walz is estimated to have traveled to China “30 times.”

Comer also pointed to Walz’s time in Congress, when he served as a fellow at Macau Polytechnic University — a Chinese institution that characterizes itself as having a “long-cherished devotion to and love for the motherland.”

In 2019, Walz headlined the 27th National Convention for the US China Peoples Friendship Association in Minnesota. Walz also spoke alongside the chairman of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries. A year later, the State Department exposed that organization as “a Beijing-based organization charged with co-opting subnational governments,” including attempts to “directly and maliciously influence state and local leaders to advance the People’s Republic’s global agenda.” China,” the House Oversight Committee said. revealed.

WALZ ASSIGNED WITH APPARENT CCP TIES COULD EXPOSURE POTENTIAL VEEP’S NATIONAL SECURITY WEAKNESS, LAWMAKER SAYS

Moreover, in March this year, Walz met with Consul General Zhao Jian to discuss “China-US relations and subnational cooperation.”

Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Governor Tim Walz speaks during a campaign stop on Monday, October 28, 2024 in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Regarding the subpoena, Comer said DHS was “unresponsive” and did not operate “in good faith.”

Comer said DHS “has not produced any responsive documents.”

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Last week, Comer said he spoke with DHS’ senior adviser for legislative affairs during a phone call on Oct. 21, but said the official “did not offer any substantive information, nor any assurance that substantive information would be forthcoming.”

“DHS has been completely unresponsive and the committee is considering all available options,” Comer wrote. “The documents subject to the Commission’s subpoena will provide information on the Commission’s understanding of the CCP’s political warfare against the United States and how effectively federal agencies are countering the communist regime’s infiltration operations.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris-Walz campaign and DHS for comment.