“As Members of the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party (‘CCP’), we are deeply concerned that the CCP and other foreign adversaries of the United States are working to capitalize on our vacant Speaker position in the US House of Representatives and constant threat of government shutdowns to discredit democracy globally and promote authoritarian governance models abroad. Following the removal of Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the US House of Representatives on October 3rd, Global Times – a CCP propaganda tabloid – published an opinion article on its English-language website, that stated that the United States ‘had long presented itself as a ‘beacon of democracy,’ but ‘with its domestic political turmoil, this myth has been shattered.’ The article states ‘the failure of the American democratic system domestically has raised questions about American values on the international stage.’ Continued coverage of the Speaker race from Global Times and other People’s Republic of China (PRC) media outlets similarly focuses on the chaos of the US political system.”

“This is the CCP’s message targeting international audiences in the English language, and it’s part of a broader global propaganda campaign to sow doubt about the strength of the United States and our democratic values. Therefore, we respectfully request a classified briefing from the US Intelligence Community (‘IC’) on how the CCP and our foreign adversaries are leveraging current political dysfunction in the US House of Representatives to discredit democracy globally in their efforts to promote an alternative authoritarian model of governance internationally, enhance their ability to form economic and national security alliances, and harm our standing with strategic partners,” writes Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi in a letter signed by 10 other Dems to CIA Director William Burns and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haynes.