Obama’s Attorney General Secretly Lobbied On Behalf Of China Over US Drone Blacklist

Former US Attorney General Loretta Lynch tried to quietly push the Department of Defense to remove Chinese drone maker SZ DJI Technology Co Ltd from a list of Chinese military companies, a damning Reuters report has revealed.

The Obama-era official lobbied the DoD on behalf of the firm when it came under US government scrutiny over ties to China’s People’s Liberation Army. The Shenzhen-based company turned to Lynch as well as former Assistant United States Attorney Michael Gertzman and Associate White House Counsel in the Obama administration Roberto Gonzalez.

The Pentagon starting in 2021 named DJI as constituting a potential threat to US national security for its military ties. A DoD statement at the time made clear that “The Department of Defense (DOD) position is that systems produced by Da Jiang Innovations (DJI) pose potential threats to national security.” 

And further, “Existing DOD policy and practices associated with the use of these systems by U.S. government entities and forces working with US military services remain unchanged contrary to any written reports not approved for release by the DOD.” Of big concern was that some of Chinese company’s products were making their way into highly sensitive military programs, including used by special forces. 

Lynch’s efforts have been described as technically legal, as they fall within a “loophole” inherent in The Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA. The decades-old law requires that current and former US officials publicly disclose work, especially lobbying efforts, done on behalf of foreign entities and governments. But there’s also a not insignificant list of exemptions which is increasingly coming under scrutiny.

Congressional leaders are outraged, and some have vowed to end the type of loopholes which allow former officials like Lynch to secretly work on behalf of China:

Almost a dozen critics of FARA told Reuters the law’s loopholes have allowed less transparency for other companies with alleged ties to China’s military, including surveillance technology firm Hikvision and biotech firm WuXi AppTec.

Jim Risch, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, says reforms to the law are needed, given the blurry lines between many Chinese companies and the Chinese government, and to keep former members of the U.S. government from effectively lobbying on their behalf.

Risch said: “It is appalling that former senior U.S. officials use their connections to serve the interests of U.S. adversaries.”

China’s State Councilor and Minister of Public Security Guo Shengkun meets US Attorney General Loretta Lynch in Washington on Wednesday. pic.twitter.com/DDz9GA9xU7

— China Daily (@ChinaDaily) December 8, 2016

While it might be easy to dismiss this as the usual D.C. beltway revolving door of foreign interests and willing US politicians and K Street operatives lining their pockets… that a US Attorney General has been engaged in these kinds of top level and hidden dealings with China is a massive scandal in and of itself.

Lynch has previously simply claimed that because the Chinese drones in question were already in “wide use” in the US, the company’s “threat to national security” designation should be dropped.