Vice President Kamala Harris has long touted a strong record of protecting the sanctity of American elections from conspiratorial foreign adversaries.
Harris last year boasted He praised her work as a U.S. senator investigating allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 election and said “free, fair and open elections” are a pillar of democracy. She cited her “years” of experience as a career prosecutor as evidence of her commitment to clean elections.
But when it mattered most, Kamala Harris faced damning evidence of voter fraud and election manipulation by suspected Chinese spies and other associates who happened to be close political allies of Harris when she was California's attorney general. I joked that I would investigate.
In 2011, when she closed her shop. friend and Ally Ed Lee was campaigning to become mayor of San Francisco, but Harris refused to investigate allegations of campaign finance violations, election fraud, and vote-rigging schemes by Lee's supporters. , some of whom were found to be collaborating with the Chinese government. Some of those same supporters donated tens of thousands of dollars to Harris' political campaign before and after the scheme was exposed.
Willie Brown (left) and Ed Lee at the Cannery on May 2, 2012 in San Francisco, California. (Randy Brook/Wire Image)
This complex saga involves a Chinese spy network and several of Harris' close friends and allies, including Harris' former mistress and mentor Willie Brown and prosecutors backed by George Soros. are. It all started in 2010, when then-Mayor Gavin Newsom was elected Lieutenant Governor of California.
Mr. Lee was appointed interim mayor by the city's Board of Supervisors in January 2011. At the time, Lee was not running, but he promised not to run for mayor in the near future. changed his mind After efforts began to draft him later that year.
The “Run, Ed, Run” campaign was the work of a shadowy organization called Progress for All. Establishment It was committed by a suspected Chinese spy named Bai Lan (known in San Francisco as Rose Park). Chinese-born power broker investigated She was arrested by the FBI in 2006 for ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and had ties to former Mayor Willie Brown, with whom Brown was a close friend. discipleLee, for decades. Several Funders of Progress for All — Mr. Brown greatly promoted—He had previously won millions of dollars in city contracts from Brown's office.
San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee (right) walks through Chinatown on November 8, 2011 in San Francisco, California. As San Franciscans head to the polls to cast their votes for a new mayor, district attorney and sheriff, San Francisco mayoral candidates are making a final push to get people to vote. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Rose Pack (left) speaks with Mayor Ed Lee in San Francisco on January 15, 2011. (Paul Chinn/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
Because Lee had promised not to run for mayor, Park's group was able to circumvent campaign finance laws that limit individual contributions to mayors to $500. With support from Mr. Brown, $40,000 This flowed into pro-Lee operations.
In July 2011, Lee's opponent was suspect Progress for All alleged serious campaign violations and demanded an investigation. San Francisco's incestuous politics were exposed as pressure mounted on prosecutors to take action.
The district attorney tasked with overseeing the case is the now infamous former San Francisco Police Chief George Gascon, who was recently arrested. appointed It was one of Newsom's final acts as mayor of San Francisco. Gascón later became known as him. soros connectionBut he rose to power thanks to his close personal relationships with Brown and Park. advised asked him to accept the prosecutor's office vacated by the state's newly elected attorney general, none other than Kamala Harris.
San Francisco's new police chief, George Gascon, receives applause after being introduced by Mayor Gavin Newsom (right) during a press conference at San Francisco City Hall on June 17, 2009. (Photo taken on the 17th). To his left is San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris. . (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris addresses the press on March 9, 2010. To her left is Police Chief George Gascon. (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
Lee's adversary slammed Gascón decried the apparent conflict, which could jeopardize the investigation into his political friend. Mr. Gascon referred Mr. Lee's case to Mr. Harris' office, citing his own arguments. Potential conflict of interest. Harris' current job was to investigate Progress for All, a group closely associated with her ex-boyfriend Willie Brown. Instead, Harris handed the case back to Gascón and declared that there were no conflicts that would prevent him from handling the case. Gas con immediately Survey completed.
Harris' conflict on this issue may have been even worse than Gascon's. From 2009 to 2011, Kamala Harris received more than $33,000 in campaign contributions from affiliates of Pak's Progress for All. Among those who donated was a San Francisco real estate developer. Found He said he put $12,000 into Park's personal checking account years ago. Another Harris donor is a close friend of Willie Brown. major donor To bring progress to all.
Rose Pack speaks on her cell phone while walking down Clay Street in Chinatown, San Francisco, California on September 17, 2010. (Lee Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
Two months after Harris and Gascón killed an investigation into campaign finance violations, Video has been published Pro-Lee operatives process voters' absentee ballots in Chinatown. The operatives appeared to be instructing elderly people to vote for Lee. collect absentee ballots-Both of you are serious. potential crime.
When confronted by reporters, voters became angry and aggressive, demanding the reporters' press credentials. As photojournalists approached, the workers began stuffing ballots into envelopes and hiding other evidence of voter manipulation. that was later revealed That the operatives were commanded by a certain person. close ally Mr. Park later became Mr. Lee's consultant.
So what did Attorney General Harris do about this corruption allegation involving her friends and donors? there is nothing.
Harris' inaction may seem like a clear case of “justice politics” in a town built on turning a blind eye. But effectively quashing the Progress for All investigation had devastating consequences not just for San Francisco but for the entire country.
If Harris had investigated Lee's campaign plans, she might have uncovered the truth about Rose Park's operations in the Bay Area. By 2016, as Harris was preparing to run for the U.S. Senate, Rose Pack fully exposed as Managing director An organization of the Chinese Communist Party's intelligence agency called the China Overseas Exchange Association (COEA).
In 2023, six members of Congress wrote the following document: letter to the FBI, which described COEA as a front organization for China. United Front Work Department (UFWD). According to the letter, UFWD is a Chinese intelligence agency whose primary mission is to “coordinate with foreign political parties, influence their operations, and collect intelligence.” What about that first group? exploited Park has strong political connections in the Bay Area as part of China's efforts to spy on and influence U.S. politicians.
When Ed Lee won the 2011 mayoral election, Park organized a “rally party” at the residence of a communist Chinese diplomat. Some of Harris' friends and allies attended a party hosted by Gao Zhensheng, the Chinese consul general. “We are happy to witness the close exchanges and cooperation between China and San Francisco since Mayor Ed Li took office,” said a Chinese diplomat.
Mayor Ed Li (left) and Chinese Consul General Gao Zhansheng embrace after a game of table tennis in Chinatown on August 26, 2012 in San Francisco, California. (Sonja Och/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
Indeed, China had good reason to celebrate Mr. Li's victory. Just months after meeting with the Chinese consul general, the newly elected mayor traveled to Beijing with Rose Park and Willie Brown to sign the agreement. $1.7 billion deal with the Chinese government. agreement allowed A Chinese state-owned construction company has helped redevelop the former US Naval Shipyard in San Francisco, once home to the US's largest nuclear testing site.
Harris' failure to investigate the allegations against Rose Pack and Progress for All was in contrast to her pursuit of other similar cases during her time as attorney general.
Less than a year after the Lee investigation was dropped, Harris' office complete investigation involved in campaign finance violations by conservative nonprofits; Harris spared no expense; begged The California Supreme Court has called for accelerating efforts to force organizations to turn over internal documents to the office before the November election.
when report When issues of voter intimidation by Republican county sheriffs surfaced in 2016, Harris' office took action, sending representatives from her office to investigate and monitor conditions at polling places in the county. .
In both cases, Harris' suspects happened to be rivals of her political allies.
Price Schia is an investigative journalist and senior fellow at Peter Schweitzer's Government Accountability Institute..
