A handful of House lawmakers, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), funneled campaign money toward a Chinese-backed entity during the midterm election cycle, according to campaign finance records.
Four House members — including Ocasio-Cortez, as well as Reps. Kevin Mullin (D-CA), Grace Meng (D-NY), and Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) — reported spending thousands of dollars on Sing Tao U.S., a subsidiary of the Sing Tao News Corporation based in Hong Kong, according to the Federal Election Commission. The money was used to pay for advertising expenses to include campaign messages in Chinese publications in New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
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Sing Tao U.S. is a Chinese-owned company that was forced to register as a Chinese agent by the Department of Justice in August 2021. All of the payments made by the three Democrats and one Republican were made during the 2022 election cycle, which was after the entity was linked to China.
Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign spent the most, with nearly $1,500 being used for political ads with Sing Tao, according to the FEC. Meanwhile, Mullin, Meng, and Malliotakis sent between $1,000 to $7,000 to various Sing Tao entities for ad expenses.
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Sing Tao, which owns a number of Chinese publications across the country, has maintained it is independent from the Chinese government. However, the paper is considered pro-Beijing, prompting the DOJ to brand it as a foreign agent.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the offices of all four lawmakers but has not received responses.
