https://selectcommitteeontheccp.house.gov/media/letters/letter-navy-exchange-ccp-linked-computers
https://selectcommitteeontheccp.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/selectcommitteeontheccp.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/10.04.2023-letter-to-navy-exchange.pdf
Letter to Navy Exchange on CCP-Linked Computers
WASHINGTON, DC – Chairman Mike Gallagher (R-WI) of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party wrote to the CEO of the U.S. Navy Exchange, requesting the removal of CCP-linked Lenovo products from the discounted marketplace available to servicemembers. Lenovo is a Chinese technology company with extensive ties to the People’s Liberation Army and the CCP's state-directed espionage campaigns. Lenovo’s largest shareholder is the Chinese government.
Currently, the U.S. Navy Exchange offers at least ten CCP-linked Lenovo computer and IT products.
In the letter, Chairman Gallagher writes, "[T]he Exchange should not be selling Lenovo products to U.S. servicemembers, let alone incentivizing such purchases with tax-free, discounted prices. Doing so creates a major cybersecurity threat and undermines the U.S. Department of Defense’s 2023 Cyber Strategy, which commits to “foster[ing] a culture of cybersecurity and cyber awareness."
Chairman Gallagher cited the Pentagon's 2016 warning that Lenovo computers could introduce compromised hardware into the Defense Department. In 2018, the FTC also cautioned that Lenovo installed software on U.S.-bound computers that created serious security vulnerabilities.
Chairman Gallagher requested that Robert Bianchi, CEO of the Navy Exchange, provide a briefing no later than October 20, 2023 on the Navy Exchange's decision to sell Lenovo computers and IT products.
''Presumably, this includes my Motorola phone…. grrrrr''