Ranking Member Khanna Questions Witnesses During Hearing on The Rise of CCP-linked Scam Networks Targeting Americans and Threatening U.S. Security

WASHINGTON – Today, Representative Ro Khanna (CA-17), Ranking Member of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party questioned witnesses at a Select Committee hearing on CCP-linked scam networks targeting Americans and threatening U.S. security. Witness testimony underscored the findings of the bipartisan Select Committee investigatory report analyzing how scam networks defraud Americans of at least $10 billion annually while fueling human trafficking, cybercrime, and illicit finance.

Ranking Member Khanna began by saying he believes America should be seeking restitution from the perpetrators of these scams and give the money back to victims. “If the Chinese, Cambodian, and other governments cooperated, how could we go about doing that?” he asked.

Ms. Erin West, Founder and President of Operation Shamrock replied, “We should be doing a full-scale investigation using the data that we already have to identify where this cryptocurrency or cashed out cryptocurrency is located and we should be recovering it for the victims. This is all doable…we haven't had people at the highest levels of government supporting that this needs to be done for victims.”

“There’s also a real-life applicable solution to this…[the U.S.] has $15 billion of Bitcoin that was taken from one of these criminal actors that is sitting – it’s undetermined, as of yet, what is going to happen with that…we have a world-changing amount of money that’s just sitting there and ready to repay victims,” Mr. Jacob Sims added. 

Mr. Jason Tower finished by saying, “I think that's ultimately where much more investment needs to go is in monitoring these illicit flows, particularly on cryptocurrency… Really only at that point, I think, can we start to, um, even begin to think about how to provide restitution and, you know, justice to the many Americans who've lost billions of dollars to these crimes.”

“The Trump Administration has sought to defund or shut down USAID, USIP, and the NED. The reality is that these entities have helped expose the China-linked scammers,” Ranking Member Khanna highlighted. “Should all these agencies be funded and restored?”

All three witnesses agreed robust funding for local civil society groups and foreign assistance were necessary to thwart scammers and protect Americans:

Mr. Sims began by saying while he cannot advocate for funding or defund of specific organizations, “I will say broadly speaking, the local civil society groups that I mentioned need three things. They need protection from repression. They need funding, and they need the right kind of funding…And as we rebuild foreign assistance, we need to prioritize nimble, hostile-environment funding that actually can reach the people who are doing the real work.”

“I think the problem that we have in the locations these crimes are happening is we don't have eyes on the ground where previously we did have a lot of eyes on the ground. And so unfortunately with the defunding of so many of these entities, we have lost visibility into what's really happening there. So refunding is an absolute priority,” Ms. West agreed.

“I think that the role of independent researchers, media, and civil society is one of the most critical parts of the response” to these scammers so far, said Mr. Tower. “It's what has informed U.S. sanctions until present. It's what I think ultimately has assisted the U.S. in seizing the funds that have been seized thus far. Without sustained funding to these types of groups, I don’t think you’re going to see the replication of [seizures and indictments] achieved over the past couple of years.”

Video of Ranking Member Khanna’s opening statement is available here.

Video of the full Select Committee hearing is available here.