A bipartisan group of legislators is voicing concerns about the Congressional Football Game’s ties to China, the Washington Examiner reported on Friday.
Congressional Football Game for Charity, the organization that runs the game, was led until recently by a recent Huawei lobbyist and its game was sponsored by a U.S.-affiliate of a Chinese company that was impacted by a ban on foreign manufacturers, according to the Examiner. Five members of Congress, four Republicans and one Democrat, have raised concerns about the game’s ties to China, calling on the game to return the money it got from the China-linked firm and pledging not to play in future games.
The Congressional Football Game is an annual charitable football game pitting members of Congress and former NFL players against Capitol police officers, according to the game’s website.
The charity should “strongly consider returning those funds to the sender as the values and beliefs of the Chinese Communist Party are counter to everything America stands for,” a spokeswoman for Republican Rep. Rick Crawford of Arkansas told the Examiner. “It has now come to my attention that one of the major event sponsors has direct ties to Chinese manufacturing firms posing threats to our national security,” Democratic Rep. Don Davis of North Carolina said, going on to assert that, had he known about the ties, he “would not have participated and would have taken immediate steps to intervene.”
“I have played in the game to raise charity in the past. However, I will not in the future if this situation is not corrected,” Republican Rep. Greg Murphy of Indiana said to the Examiner. Other members of Congress who voiced their concerns included Republicans Tim Burchett of Tennessee and Jack Bergman of Michigan.
“I think its sad that the Washington Examiner chose to lie to members of Congress to generate a story that’s based on a fantastical conspiracy theory,” Bret Manley, chairman of the board of Congressional Football Game for Charity, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “We raise money for the Capitol Police Memorial Fund and I look forward to them making it up to them by donating to next year’s game.”(RELATED: US Beefing Up Intel Network Across Asia To Counter China’s Spy Threat)
Tax forms filed in 2022 for the charity list Glenn LeMunyon as its principal officer and president. LeMunyon lobbied for Huawei, a firm that was designated by the Federal Communications Commission(FCC) as a national security threat in 2020, between 2021 and 2022 through his lobbying firm, according to the Examiner. LeMunyon Group, LeMunyon’s firm, also registered to lobby for Futurewei, a company suspended from contracting with the Air Force in 2020, in 2023, according to the Examiner.
RIDE, a subsidiary of the Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD, is listed on the charity’s website as a sponsor, according to the Examiner. BYD has received over $1 billion from the Chinese government and, according to senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies Emily de La Bruyere, seeks to “implement CCP international strategy, and directly connect to Beijing’s military apparatus,” the Examiner reported.
The #2023CongressionalFootballGame for Charity is TOMORROW! Will we see you there? Tickets are still available at https://t.co/mdUVKwGGMk pic.twitter.com/3LEtF8Cjh7
— Congressional Football Game (@CongFootball) September 27, 2023
China has spent $280 million over the past six years to influence American politics, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. Bipartisan groups of legislators have introduced bills aimed at limiting foreign influence on policy, according to the NBC News.
LeMunyon Group and RIDE did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.
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