I guess this doesn't count as an October surprise but it may be a set up for some awkward exchanges at tomorrow night's VP debate. Today we learned that Rep. James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, has subpoenaed records from the Department of Homeland Security which deal with Tim Walz' connections to China. The really interesting part of this is that a whistleblower tipped Comer to some specific DHS resources he might want to consider.

The subpoena comes after a whistleblower notified the committee of the existence of a non-classified, Microsoft Teams group chat among DHS employees, as well as additional intelligence reports, that allegedly contain information regarding Walz’s alleged connections to the CCP. 

"The committee has recently received whistleblower disclosures informing the Committee of serious concern among Department of Homeland Security personnel regarding a longstanding connection between the CCP and Minnesota Governor Timothy James Walz," Comer wrote in the subpoena cover letter to Mayorkas... 

"Specifically, through whistleblower disclosures, the Committee has learned of a non-classified, Microsoft Teams group chat among DHS employees—titled ‘NST NFT Bi-Weekly Sync’—that contains information about Governor Walz that is relevant to the Committee’s investigation," Comer wrote. "The Committee has also learned that further relevant information regarding Governor Walz has been memorialized in both classified and unclassified documents in the control of DHS." 

It's well known at this point that Walz formed a company which brought students to China. He made at least 30 trips himself but quickly shuttered the company after he was elected to office. But Walz did more than just make travel arrangements during this time. He was also a visiting fellow at a university in Macau.

Walz was a visiting fellow at the CCP-sanctioned Macau Polytechnic University until at least 2007, according to public filings and press reports. The school was established in 1981 and subscribes to the vision of China’s Belt and Road Initiative — a massive infrastructure program that is the cornerstone of Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s aggressive pursuit of influence overseas.

“We do this in alignment with China’s Belt and Road Initiative,” reads a statement from Marcus Im Sio Kei, the rector of the Macau Polytechnic University, on the school’s website. “We are committed to cultivate talented individuals to serve the country and Macau.”

As recently as 2019, Walz was connected to the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.

In 2019, Walz headlined the 27th National Convention for the U.S. China Peoples Friendship Association in Minnesota.

Why is that significant? Because one year later the US cut ties with that organization, accusing it of trying to "malignly influence" state and local leaders.

 The United States said on Wednesday it was designating a U.S. branch of a Chinese government-controlled organization as a foreign mission and withdrawing from an agreement to promote local-level cooperation between the countries...

It said that since the signing of the MOU, Beijing's Chinese Peoples’ Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), had "sought to directly and malignly influence" U.S. state and local leaders to promote China's global agenda. 

There were reports last year that China has been especially successful in making friends with state officials in Utah. 

For years, China and its affiliates in the US have worked behind-the-scenes to cultivate relationships with state and local officials and lawmakers, connections that have allowed Beijing to delay legislation it didn’t like and ditch resolutions that expressed dissatisfaction with its actions...

In 2020, during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Utah legislators passed a resolution expressing solidarity with China by a near-unanimous margin. (A similar effort in Wisconsin failed, with the Badger State’s senate president publicly blasting it as a piece of propaganda.)

Similar efforts in Europe gained attention years ago. The fact that Tim Walz was still promoting these Chinese front groups 5 years ago probably deserves a bit more attention. 

At this point, DHS only needs to stall a response to the subpoena long enough to keep whatever information they are sitting on out of the public domain for one more month. If Walz does have some embarrassing connections to China (beyond the ones we know about) I'm guessing we won't learn about them until after the election.