There is a version of this country in which Donald Trump tells Americans the truth he has been handed: that their elections are secure. Once, he apparently wanted to. The Atlantic reported after Thursday night’s address that a February 2020 election-security briefing pleased Trump so much he wanted to announce the news himself. The press conference never happened. The election did, and Trump lost it. More than six years later, he mocked the assurances he once wanted his name on, describing a system “so broken and so vulnerable that no…
Tag: Law (US)
A California mayor pleaded guilty to acting as an agent for China. Foreign policy experts aren’t surprised
Foreign policy experts say they are not surprised at China’s efforts to exert its influence over local US communities after the mayor of a southern California city resigned this week and said she would plead guilty to acting as an illegal foreign agent of Beijing. Eileen Wang, 58, agreed to plead guilty to a felony count related to the charge on Monday and could face up to 10 years in federal prison. According to a plea agreement filed by the justice department, Wang and an associate worked with the People’s…
Chinese scientist charged with smuggling pathogen into US to be deported
A Chinese scientist charged in Michigan with smuggling biological materials pleaded guilty on Wednesday, but was given no additional time in jail beyond the five months she already spent in custody. Yunqing Jian, who was a temporary researcher at a University of Michigan lab, will be released and quickly deported. A judge called it a “very strange” case involving an “incredibly accomplished researcher”. Jian, 33, was arrested in June and accused of conspiring with a boyfriend to study and nurse a toxic fungus at a campus lab. A pathogen known…
Trump pardons former New York cop convicted of helping Beijing harass Chinese expatriate
Donald Trump granted a presidential pardon on Friday to a former New York police sergeant who was convicted of helping China try to scare an ex-official into going back to his homeland, a prominent case in US authorities’ efforts to combat what they claim are Beijing’s far-flung efforts to repress critics. Michael McMahon was sentenced this spring to 18 months in prison for his role in what a federal judge called “a campaign of transnational repression”. He insisted he was innocent, saying he was “unwittingly used” when he took what…