January 1, Visa Loophole Lets Foreign Dollars Rig Elections

Wyatt’s Take

• EB-5 visa program opened door for foreign meddling in U.S. politics.
• Key Clinton-era donors linked to Chinese and Indonesian interests benefited most.
• Unchecked foreign money poured into Democrat campaigns, swirling questions of influence.

Peter Schweizer’s new book says a government visa plan meant for foreign investors became a tool for moving foreign cash into American politics, mostly helping Democrats. This started with the EB-5 visa, created in 1990, which gave green cards to rich foreigners promising to bring money and jobs to the country.

In reality, the program often skipped proper checks on applicants, allowing bad actors to funnel big money into political campaigns. Schweizer highlights how Maria Hsia and the Lippo Group used EB-5 visas to route cash into the Clinton camp, at the heart of the infamous fund-raising scandals of the 90s.

“A Senate investigation named Hsia as an ‘agent of the Chinese government’ who sought to conceal her ties to Beijing while funneling money to the Clintons and their allies.”

John Huang and James Riady, both connected to Lippo Group, eventually pled guilty to breaking campaign finance laws tied to this scheme. Democrats returned more than a million dollars in dirty donations after being caught.

Investigators quoted in the book say Hsia and her group built EB-5 to get overseas money into U.S. politics, targeting Democrats but spreading some funds around. The scam was simple: open the gates for foreign donors to influence elections without ever having to vote.

Danhong “Jean” Chen’s case shows the problem clearly. She helped foreign investors get EB-5 visas, collected millions, and steered hundreds of thousands to Democrat campaigns. Chen and her husband ended up indicted for fraud and identity theft, but the full list of their mysterious donors remains unknown.

EB-5 firms bragged about setting up meetings with powerful U.S. leaders, and offered to “legalize” political donations for foreign clients. Many of these clients came from China, which raises big questions about Chinese Communist Party influence, as Schweizer points out.

“Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suddenly find herself awash in mysterious thousand-dollar donations from New York City’s Chinatown during her failed 2008 campaign for the Democratic presidential primary.”

Later investigations found the donors were directed by community groups with secret ties to Communist China’s United Front Work Department, tasked with spreading Beijing’s influence. Schweizer notes Chinese EB-5 recruiters worked freely at home, letting big money flow out despite supposed restrictions on overseas transfers.

Every American who cares about fair elections should be alarmed at how easy it was for foreign operatives to worm their way into our system. When foreign dollars talk, American voices get drowned out. These are the kind of dirty tricks that put our whole democracy on the chopping block.

Read the full story here

Wyatt Matters

Folks in the heartland know you can’t ignore when outsiders try to buy off your leaders. Keeping elections honest is about protecting our jobs, our families, and the country we work hard to build. When foreign money slides in through legal loopholes, everyday Americans are the ones who pay the price.