China Initiative Conference

Thursday, February 6, 2020 8:00 am - 12:15 pm

CSIS Headquarters

This Event is at capacity. We invite you to watch the live webcast through this page.

RSVPs will be re-confirmed via email from the Technology Policy team. Credentialed members of the press will receive instructions as part of a separate confirmation issued by the Office of External Relations. For more information, contact wcrumpler@csis.org.

In November 2018, the Department of Justice unveiled the China Initiative, which was established to fulfill the Department’s strategic priority of confronting national security threats presented by the People’s Republic of China, with a particular emphasis placed on the policies and practices that seek to challenge U.S. technological and scientific leadership. This half-day event brings together high-level officials from the U.S. government, private industry and academia, to discuss the most timely and relevant issues regarding the Department of Justice’s efforts to counter this economic malfeasance.

Agenda

8:00 am — Welcome by James Lewis, CSIS, and John Demers, Assistant Attorney General for National Security

8:05 am — Opening remarks by Christopher Wray, FBI Director

8:25 am — Threat Briefing by William Evanina, Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center

8:45 am — China case overview

Adam Hickey, Deputy Assistant Attorney General

John Brown, Assistant Director, Counterintelligence Division, FBI

9:05 am — U.S. Attorney Panel – “The China Initiative”

Moderated by Brian Benczkowski, Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division

Jay Town, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama

Andrew Lelling, U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts

Richard Donoghue, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York

Erin Nealy Cox, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas

9:45 am — Break

10:00 am — Keynote address by William Barr, U.S. Attorney General

10:30 am — Industry Experience Panel

Moderated by Aruna Viswanatha, Wall Street Journal Justice Department Correspondent

William Zarit, The Cohen Group

Jeremie Waterman, President, China Center, Vice President, Greater China, U.S. Chamber of Commerce

John Neuffer, President and CEO, Semiconductor Industry Association

John Carlin, Former Assistant Attorney General for National Security

11:20 am — Academic Experience Panel

Moderated by Jude Blanchette, Freeman Chair in China Studies, CSIS

Dr. Doug Girod, Chancellor of Kansas University

Dr. Greg Fenves, President of the University of Texas at Austin

Dr. Mary Sue Coleman, President of the Association of American Universities

Dr. Michael Lauer, Deputy Director for Extramural Research at NIH

12:10 pm — Closing remarks by John Demers, Assistant Attorney General for National Security

This event is made possible through general support to CSIS.

https://www.csis.org/events/china-initiative-conference

By John Podesta

Feb. 5, 2020 at 7:35 p.m. EST

John Podesta, the chair of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, served as counselor to President Barack Obama and chief of staff to President Bill Clinton.

Now that the Senate impeachment trial is over, some Democrats will counsel that if the House continues its oversight of the Trump administration, they will be seen as bitterly vindictive and obsessed with attacking President Trump. Ironically, the advice will echo the president’s own argument. That would be a deeply dangerous mistake. The House’s unique ability to shine a light on this administration’s corruption is needed now more than ever.

The House is the only governmental body with the power and will to expose Trump’s corruption. Unfortunately, the other institutions that were supposed to hold a corrupt president accountable have protected him instead. The attorney general, America’s chief law enforcement officer, has run an interference campaign to protect Trump from accountability. Lawyers at the White House and Office of Management and Budget have rendered legal opinions enabling presidential actions that the independent Government Accountability Office have found to be unlawful, and that constitutional scholars on the left and right have said are dangerous and unprecedented.

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Impeachment trial live updates

The refusal of Republican leaders in the Senate to hear from former national security adviser John Bolton and acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney turned the Senate impeachment trial into a farce.

Even the senior Republicans who some thought could be counted on to uphold the integrity of their institution instead adopted a “hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil” posture toward a president they fear.

Trump’s corruption and disregard for the rule of law permeates his administration, as the Ukraine investigation revealed. It is incumbent upon the House to redouble its efforts to hold the administration accountable and to inform the American people of the laws being trampled and the norms of good governance being eviscerated.

Based on everything we know about him, Trump is likely to see the Senate’s capitulation as a permission slip to use his time in office to benefit himself financially and politically — and might seek foreign help to do so.

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What should House Democrats do?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/02/05/country-needs-houses-oversight-now-more-than-ever/

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First, let the oversight committees get back to basics. During the impeachment process, a number of House committees went largely quiet. Now they should aggressively pursue unfinished business, including addressing Trump’s efforts to take away health-care protections for people with preexisting conditions and to raid the U.S. military budget to fund his useless wall at the southern border.

Second, complete the story that the Senate Republican leadership wanted to spike. The House majority should expose the Senate impeachment trial for what it was — a coverup — by subpoenaing witnesses such as Bolton, Mulvaney, Trump’s personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani, and Giuliani associates Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman. The public is entitled to hear their testimony in an official setting — there is much still to learn. The public also is yet to hear from former White House counsel Donald McGahn about Trump’s possible obstruction efforts. Many of the most important figures, including Bolton, Parnas and McGahn, have said they are willing to testify if given the opportunity.

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Third, thoroughly investigate Trump and his cronies to determine whether they have misused their offices for personal gain. Pay-for-play opportunities appear to be rampant in the Trump administration. Coal magnate Robert E. Murray, the founder of Murray Energy, “has donated $1.4 million to Trump and related super PACs,” according to NBC News. Shortly after Trump took office in 2017, Murray presented the new administration with what the New York Times termed a “wish list” of regulations he wanted to see rolled back. The Times said in 2018, “Nearly a year later, the White House and federal agencies have completed or are on track to fulfill most of the 16 detailed requests.” That includes the dismantling of the Clean Power Plan, withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement and attacking mercury standards.

On Friday, news broke that Environmental Protection Agency chief of staff Ryan Jackson — who has already been admonished by the EPA inspector general for defying investigations — is leaving the agency to join the National Mining Association. The news came just a week after the administration announced cutbacks on federal protections for streams and wetlands under the Clean Water Act, a move that was a top priority for the NMA, which spent $3.5 million on lobbying related to the effort. Jackson’s new position, as the NMA’s senior vice president for governmental affairs, had the hallmarks of a reward for a job well done.

After three years of scandal and investigations, many might feel the best thing to do is to move on. But robust oversight is critical to ensuring that the American people know the extent of Trump’s corruption and to deterring Trump from further damaging democratic institutions. The House is the last line of defense.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/02/05/country-needs-houses-oversight-now-more-than-ever/