Rep. Nancy Mace claims GOP 'whistleblower witness' who’s indicted but on the run is being 'silenced' by DOJ
U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) is accusing the U.S. Dept. of Justice of silencing House Republicans’ top witness Republicans claim is a “whistleblower,” who allegedly is promoting what appear to be baseless claims accusing President Joe Biden of engaging in criminal acts including bribery. That witness is now known to be think-tank director Gal Luft, who was arrested on an Interpol warrant in February in Cyprus, was released on bail, and has been on the run ever since. Monday evening the DOJ released a statement that Gal Luft “was indicted today for allegedly engaging in multiple international criminal schemes.”
Luft is facing an eight-count indictment that includes, according to DOJ, “offenses related to willfully failing to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA),” along with “arms trafficking,” “conspir[ing] with others in an effort to act within the United States to advance the interests of the People’s Republic of China (China),” and, “Iranian sanctions violations and making false statements to federal agents. Luft was arrested on Feb. 17 in the Republic of Cyprus based on the charges in the indictment.”
House GOP Oversight Committee Chairman Jim Comer claimed just days ago that Luft was a “very credible witness on Biden family corruption,” despite having been missing for months.
Tuesday, Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo asked Rep. Mace for her “reaction to this indictment of Gal Luft.”
“Well, No one should be surprised here. I don’t trust the DOJ or the FBI,” Congresswoman Mace declared, a commonly held belief among Republicans. “They are trying to silence our witnesses. This is a way to do that.”
Luft is not incarcerated, and has been a fugitive from justice, avoiding extradition ever since he was released on bond after his arrest in February. Presumably, he has the ability to contact Chairman Comer via telephone, email, or a myriad of apps that would make his contact untraceable.
“He deserves to testify before the Oversight Committee,” she continued, not explaining why he deserves to do so.
“We have a lot of questions. We want to know why the evidence he brought forth to the FBI in that Brussels meeting in 2019 was not followed up on and the irony here is not lost on anyone, charging him for failing to register as a foreign agent.”
Mace did not mention that Luft is facing eight felony counts which include, among other allegations, arms trafficking and working to sell Iranian oil to China.
The DOJ states at the top of its press release: “Gal Luft, a Dual U.S.-Israeli Citizen, Allegedly Evaded FARA Registration While Working to Advance the Interests of China in the United States and Sought to Broker the Illicit Sale of Chinese Manufactured Weapons and Iranian Oil to China.”
“Well, I have a question for the DOJ and the FBI this morning,” Mace continued. “What was Hunter Biden doing with millions and millions of dollars from foreign countries advocating and lobbying on their behalf? I mean, really, this is obscene that they’re not charging Hunter with the same crimes are they’re charging this guy?”
Mace’s claim appears to be refuted by this New York Times deep dive into Hunter Biden, published in Jan jury and updated just last month.
Meanwhile, the details DOJ has released are stunning, including, they allege, Luft “agreed to covertly recruit and pay, on behalf of principals based in China, a former high-ranking U.S. government official (Individual-1), including in 2016 while the former official was an adviser to the then-President-elect,” who at that time was Donald Trump.
Luft, according to the DOJ press release, is also accused of fabricating a written a pro-China “dialogue.”
“Among other things, in the weeks before the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Luft and a co-conspirator (CC-1), who is a Chinese national and worked for a Chinese nongovernmental organization affiliated with a Chinese energy company, created a written ‘dialogue’ between CC-1 and Individual-1, in which Luft wrote Individual-1’s responses and included information that was favorable to China,” DOJ’s press release states.
“The dialogue was then published in a Chinese newspaper online and sent to, among others, individuals in the United States, including a journalist and professors at multiple U.S. universities. When Luft was writing the dialogue, CC-1 told Luft that ‘[i]n these articles, we do not want to spill all the beans yet, just enough to let ‘people’ know he [i.e., Individual-1] is in the corridor of power to be. Just broad stroke policy consideration that leaves plenty of room for interpretation and imagination to be filled in later.’ After the purported ‘conversations’ were published, Luft told CC-1 that certain information, favorable to China, had been ‘tucked between the lines.'”
“Shortly after the 2016 election, Luft and CC-1 also discussed possible roles Individual-1 might have in the incoming U.S. administration, and discussed Individual-1 taking a ‘silent trip’ to China. Luft responded that ‘[w]e are debating about his role in the new admin. There are all kinds of considerations . . .We should talk ftf [i.e., face-to-face] as there can be a supremely unique opportunity for china.'”
If convicted on all eight charges Luft could face up to 100 years in prison, the DOJ statement alleges.