Washington, D.C. — The Committee on the Present Danger China – a national security group constituted of national security and military veteran – is demanding the resignation of Joe Biden’s recently confirmed CIA chief William Burns following outright lies to the United States Senate over Burns’s links to the Chinese Communist Party.
The letter follows a National Pulse investigation highlighting how Burns – who previously served as the President of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace – worked with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) influence groups including the China-United States Exchange Foundation (CUSEF) during his tenure.
The National Pulse recently revealed how, despite the former think tank director insisting he cut ties with the controversial influence group in his Senate confirmation hearings, the relationship continued through 2021.
“In our view, these relationships should have precluded an individual from holding even a basic security clearance, let alone serving in so sensitive a position as the leader of America’s preeminent intelligence organization. We learned recently, moreover, that Mr. Burns seriously misrepresented in sworn testimony to the United States Senate the nature and timing of his dealings with such CCP-associated persons and organizations,” the Committee on the Present Danger China (CPDC) asserts.
The CPDC – whose letter includes over 20 high-level signatories – also highlights how Burns allowed CCP members tied to United Front efforts, which seek to “co-opt and neutralize sources of potential opposition” to the regime’s authority, onto the organization’s Board of Trustees:
Mr. Burns’ testimony is also belied by the fact that in 2016 he welcomed Zhang Yichen to the Carnegie Endowment’s Board of Trustees. Mr. Zhang is the CEO of CITIC Capital Holdings, a 3 subsidiary of CITIC Group, a state-owned investment enterprise. He has given over a million dollars to the Endowment in recent years. He is also tied to not one, but two, Chinese influence operations: the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the Center for China and Globalization. The website of a Chinese embassy depicts the CPPCC as a “United Front organization under the leadership of the Communist Party of China” that is “actively engaged in exchanges with foreign countries for the purpose of strengthening the friendship with people in foreign countries.” The Center for China and Globalization is “a Beijing-based think tank also linked to the communist apparatus.”
“Mr. Burn’s record contradicts his testimony about being worried about Chinese influence operations, shows he ignored the risks of partnering with them and bespeaks both a lack of awareness about Chinese tradecraft and judgment that could be serious national security risks at the CIA,” the letter notes before calling for his resignation:
For all these reasons, we urge you to ask immediately for the resignation of William Burns as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
The unearthing of Burns’s CCP ties follows The National Pulse highlighting comparably compromised members of the Biden White House, including cabinet secretaries, intelligence officials, advisers from various agencies, and even the President’s son.
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