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scan the code at the right to start shopping right now. >> on tuesday, republican governor chris sununu and his democratic challenger tom sherman debate in the new have your governors race. live coverage begins on 12:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. also watch on c-span now or online at c-span.org. >> attorney general merrick garland announced three new criminal cases against china, to involving chinese intelligence officers. the charges consist of bribery, recruitment of american citizens to become agents for china and harassment of a u.s. resident to repatriate back to china. mr. gai

am joined today by fbi director ray. attorney general's from the eastern district of new york. over the past week, the justice department has taken several actions to disrupt criminal activity by individuals working on behalf of china. as always, the mr. garland: good afternoon, i am joined today by fbi director wray and attorney generals from the eastern district of new york. over the past week, the justice department has taken several actions to disrupt criminal activity by individuals working on behalf of china. as always, the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. earlier today, in the eastern district of new york, a complaint was unsealed charging two chinese intelligence officers of attempting to obstruct the communications of a u.s. based telecommunications company. the complaint says they were encouraged to steal confidential information.

the defendants believed they had recruited the u.s. employee as an asset, but in fact the individual was a double agent working on behalf of the fbi. es an asset, but in fact the individual was a double agent working on behalf of the fbi. as the complaint alleges, the defendants paid a bribe to do up to it -- to obtain nonpublic information, including files from the u.s. attorney's office. they did so in the hope of obtaining the prosecution strategy memo, confidential information regarding witnesses, trial evidence and potential new charges. the double agent the defendants with documents that appeared to present some of the information they sought. the documents were prepared by the u.s. government for the purpose of this investigation and did not reveal actual meetings or strategies. this was an egregious attempt by

piercy intelligence officers to shield a company from accountability and to undermine the integrity of our judicial system. earlier today, in new jersey, an indictment was unsealed charging four individuals with conspiring to act as illegal agents on behalf of a foreign government. between 2008-2018, the defendants used the cover of a purported chinese academic institute to target and direct individuals in the united states to further their mission. those directives included attempts to procure technology from the united states and to have it shipped to china. it included attempts to stop first amendment activities, protests here in the united states, which would have been

embarrassing to the chinese government. separately, in the eastern district of new york, the justice department charge seven individuals working on behalf of the prc with engage in in a campaign of threats to force u.s. resident to return to china. we arrested two of those defendants. those activities were part of the prc effort known as apparition fox hunt. its purpose is to bring back to china like in fugitives who apply to foreign countries, including the united states. the prc has a history of targeting political dissidents and critics of the government web sought relief and refuge in other countries. the indictment alleges the defendants engaged in a campaign of harassment, threats, surveillance and intimidation

aimed at course and the victim to return to china. we also allege the defendants harassed the victims family members. the prc government forced the victim's nephew to travel to the united states to convey the piercy's threats to the victims son. the defendant threatened the victim, saying, back -- coming back is the only way out. they showed up at the home of the victims son in new york. they filed frivolous lawsuits against the victim and his son and said it would be endless misery for the defendant and son to defend themselves. they made clear their harassment will not stop until the victim returned to china. as these cases demonstrate, the government of china stopped to

interfere with the rights and freedoms of individuals in the united states and to undermine our judicial system that protects those rights. they did not succeed. the justice department will not tolerate attempts by any foreign power to undermine the rule of law upon which our democracy is based. we will continue to fiercely protect rights guaranteed to everyone in our country and we will defend the integrity of our institutions. before i turn the podium over to attorney general monaco, i want to recognize the fbi, and the attorney offices for their extraordinary work on the cases. now, deputy attorney general monico. >> good afternoon. thank you, mr. attorney general. the department of justice will not tolerate threats from a

foreign power to the rights of americans or to our nation's institutions. the cases unsealed today take place against a backdrop of malign activity from the people's republic of china that includes espionage, harassment, obstruction of justice and unceasing efforts to steal sensitive u.s. technology. in the words of our intelligence community, china seeks to be a major power on the world stage and to challenge the united states in multiple arenas. today's cases is made clear that chinese agents will not hesitate to break the law and to violate international norms in the process. two of those cases in particular show the links they are willing to go in pursuit of unfair

advantage. the defendants charged today met their match in the agents and prosecutors of the department of justice. according to one indictment, two intelligence officers attempted to bribery and espionage, to obstruct the criminal prosecution of a global telecommunications company headquartered in the piece -- piercy. they attempted to bribe somebody and they believed was an insider. the insider flipped the script on the defendants by working not for them, but for team america.

the defendants' desperate efforts to sabotage the prosecution exposed the prc's commitment to tilting the playing field in favor of chinese corporations abroad. prc agents sought to use bribes to help the chinese company obstruct and invade it. this case exposes the connection between prc intelligence officers and chinese companies. it demonstrates why such companies, especially in the telecommunications industry, should not be trusted to securely handle our sensitive, personal data. in another manner announced today, individuals associated with the chinese government allegedly continued its relentless campaign to gain access to our technology, recruit agents and attempt to

stifle the free exchange of ideas. over a 10 year period, they used a fake think tank to try to recruit a former federal law official and others through a variety of means, including with all expense to china. in each case, the plots fail because the men and women of the department of justice defended our institutions and thwarted the threats posed by agents of the prc. i want to thank the agents and prosecutors in all of these cases for their tireless work on behalf of the american people. now i will turn the podium over to fbi director ray. >> thank you. first, let me begin by pointing out that 10 of the 13 charged

individuals are chinese intelligence officers and chinese government officials. they are charged in three different cases that may seem to be about unrelated issues. as they work to undermine u.s. economic security and fundamental human rights, including those of americans. we also see a coordinated effort across the chinese government to lie, cheat and steal their way into unfairly dominating

technology sectors, putting u.s. companies out of business. there economic assault and the rights violations are part of the same problem. they both flout the rule of law. it is to make it easier to steal our innovation. they tried to silence anybody who fights back against their theft. companies, politicians, individuals. just as they try to silence anyone who fights back against their other aggressions. we have another example. there attempted obstruction of an independent judicial process to give underhanded help to one of their companies accused of breaking our intellectual property laws and deny justice to that company's victims. since i started as fbi director,

i have been repeatedly sounding the alarm about the chinese governments disregard for fair business practices and for the rule of law. the fbi has been reaching out and warning and helping the communities the chinese government targets. businesses of every size and sector, the chinese-american community, academiatoday, everye partners is awake and alert to the threat in a way that was not always true five years ago. our success of bringing more and more partners to this fight highlights something else important. beijing may think our adherence to the rule of law is a weakness but they are wrong. we are disrupting chinese

government criminality and aggression not just while adhering to our values but by adhering to our values. our democratic and legal processes armas with weapons china does not have. among others, we'll partners and allies. our partnerships help protect american people every day. today's cases are no different. we could not have accomplished this work without our foreign partners and the u.s. academic community in particular. one reason we have had so much success bringing partners to this fight against the chinese governments aggression is they see through beijing's hypocrisy. for example, they see the type of ccp up chrissy on display -- ccp high proxy on display. co-conspirators mercilessly harassed a naturalized u.s. citizen to try to force him to

return to china against his will. the accused the victim of embezzling money but two of the subjects who targeted him, two of the defendants charged today, are themselves involved in a scheme to launder millions of dollars. as if that were not enough evidence, the real purpose of their operation was political, they gave their victim a deadline to return by. the 20th ccp congress earlier this month. there are focused on -- they are focused on repression, not law enforcement. our partners also seep is ccp's broader hypocrisy. while the ccp claims to stand for noninterference in state affairs, what the chinese government does is interfere with sovereign governments around the world whenever doing so suits beijing. here, interfering with our independent judiciary.

violating both our sovereignty and the norms of police conduct to run lawless intimidation campaigns here in our backyard and corrupting our academic freedom to the fbi is going to continue to say what we mean and mean what we say. our partners here and abroad, many of whom tell us they are battling chinese aggression themselves know that they can depend on us against the chinese government and countless other dangers. let me urge any person or company being targeted or approached by the chinese government to come to the fbi for help. no american citizen, resident, company or university should battle this threat alone. you don't have to. you can report information through your local fbi field office or online at fbi.gov and know that our quarrel is with the chinese government, the

chinese communist party. not the chinese people and certainly not chinese americans. i want to congratulate all the fbi special agent's, intelligence analysts and special staff will work on these cases as well as our partners at cbp and the irs. i also want to take the opportunity to thank the government employee who played such a critical role in the obstruction of justice case. we employ double agents frequently in our counterintelligence operations against the p.r.c. services and other foreign threats. given the nature of that work we rarely get a chance to publicly thank them so i am delighted to have that chance today. thank you. a chance to publicly thank them so i am delighted to have that chance today. thank you. >> good afternoon. these three cases highlight once

again the threat individuals acting at the direction of the p.r.c. government pose to our institutions and to the rights of people inside the united states. these operations include harassment and attempted repatriation by force of individuals living in the united states, the effort to corrupt our judicial system and the attempt to recruit agents for the p.r.c. under the cover of a phony academic organization. we will not tolerate these actions. the national security division which i am privileged to lead was created to take on our most significant national security threat. these cases reflect the breadth and persistence of hostile nations day activity. these actions threaten our sovereignty and they threaten the rule of law and countering these threats is a cornerstone of the mission of the national security division. our success in disrupting these

threats depends on our strong partnerships with that u.s. attorneys offices, the fbi and the u.s. intelligence community. went to take this opportunity to recognize the exemplary work of the u.s. attorneys offices that made these cases possible. u.s. attorneys office for the eastern district of new york. i want to thank the assistant u.s. attorney with me on stage. national security division trial scott claffey. i want to recognize philip salinger cometh u.s. attorney for the district of new jersey. we are great for the work of brendan day who is here and enjoy somalia. along with the fbi and security division, these offices are on the front lines every day working to defend our national security and deliver justice on behalf of the american people. thank you.

>> we got everybody? in that case, we are ready for some questions. >> thank you. i was hoping one of you could talk about the timing of this announcement coming at the end of the party congress and the beginning of xi's third term and what kind of signal it is intended to send to china. at attorney general, i have a question for you as well. make sure you come back to me please. >> we bring cases when they are ready. that is the simplest answer and most straightforward answer to that should as far as what signal they send, if the chinese government, the chinese communist party continues to violate our laws, they are going to keep encountering the fbi. >> and back. >> thank you so much cared with

regard to another large company, a judge said friday families who were victims of the boeing 737 max crash have standing to challenge and settlement and i'm wondering if doj leadership is worried it could be vacated. >> part of ongoing litigation so i'm not going to be able to answer it. >> first question for the fbi director and i have one for the attorney general to director ray given the nature of these allegations, i'm wondering if you can give us an update on the level of activity from the p.r.c. in terms of open cases you have at the moment and what this says about the potential for the midterms and chinese manipulations and russians as well. >> as far as the brazenness of the chinese government's threat, these cases are part and parcel

of a broader effort we are seeing and have seen for some time. i recently commented when i last looked we were opening a new china counterintelligence investigation about every 12 hours. it is about 1300% increase from several years ago. as far as the election itself, the threat of any nationstate to our election system, to influence, to interfere is something we have to all remain vigilant about. in many ways, malign foreign influence whether it is from the russian government, change government or other government is not just an election cycle issue but a through tuesday five day a year problem. that is why we created the foreign influence task force in the -- and why we work so closely with our ordinaries in the intelligence community,

department of homeland security and with state and election officials which is where the responsibility for the -- the primary responsibility for the integrity of our election systems lies. >> general garland, given the nature of the mar-a-lago investigation, i was wondering can you guarantee to the american public when the investigation is complete they will be transparency so the country will know whether there will criminal offenses that took place or not. >> this is an ongoing investigation so i'm not able to comment. we speak through our filings and the cases we bring. that is the only way we speak. >> i have a question about a similar case for anyone. i assume first of all these two individuals -- is there any prospect and

secondly, is there any suggestion that huawei would connect to these individuals in terms of inducing their behavior? >> we are not going to comment on the identity of the company involved in the first charging instrument. we are always interested in apprehending individuals who violate our laws. >> but you would not name the company is there any allegation they were aware? >> there is an allegation one of the officers in the complaint refers to directions from the company to arrange a meeting which the officer refuses. >> attorney general garland, this is midterms related. 15 days out. >> you know what my answer is going to be.

>> there have been concerns about intimidation, people armed at polling places in arizona, problems in houston. asking for doj's help. are you concerned about what you are seeing this far out while the department of justice get involved? >> the justice department has an obligation to guarantee free and fair vote by everyone who is qualified to vote and will not permit voters to be intimidated. >> was it a mistake to get rid of the china and it should have? -- china initiative? >> these cases make quite clear we are unrelenting in our efforts to prevent the government of china from economic espionage, operating in the united states as foreign agents, from trying to affect our rule of law, our judicial

system, from trying to target and recruit americans to help them. i'm going to let mr. olson say more about the china initiative but i think this case should be clear that we have not in any way changed our focus on those kind of behaviors by china. >> we have stayed very focused on the threat that the prc poses to our values, our institutions. we speak through our cases. we speak to those cases today and i think what we are charging today in terms of the range and persistence of the threat we see from the p.r.c. demonstrates we have remained relentless and focused on that threat and we will continue to be focused on that threat going forward. we got -- we ended the china initiative earlier this year after a lengthy review and adopted a broader strategy focused on the range of threats

we face from a variety of nationstates and that is the strategy we are carrying forward to >> thanks, everybody. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more, including buckeye broadband. ♪ buckeye broadband supports c-span as a public service, along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> washington journal, every day

we are taking your calls live on the air on the news of the day and we will discuss policy issues that impact you. tuesday morning, we discussed campaign 2022 and races to watch. then, we talk about the pennsylvania senate debate. and, the expected rise of household energy costs. watch washington journal live at 7:00 eastern tuesday morning on c-span or c-span now, our free mobile video app. join the discussion with your phone calls, facebook comments, text messages and tweets. ♪ >> middle and high school students, it is your time to shine. you are invited to participate in this years's c-span studentcam documentary competition.

in light of the upcoming midterm election, picture yourself as a newly elected member of congress. we asked, what is your top priority and why? make a five to six minute video that shows the importance of your issue from opposing and supporting perspectives. don't be afraid to take risks with your documentary. be bold. among the $10,000 in cash prizes is a $5,000 grand prize. videos must be submitted by january 30, 2023. visit studentcam.org for rules, tips, resources, and a step-by-step guide. >> next, a debate between candidates and arkansas's 2022 governors race. topics include estate law banning medical procedures for transgender people under 18, as well as inflation and taxes. the winner of the race will replace asa hutchinson, who