espionage
Groups CriDemocracy Watch Calls Hogue Foreign Interference Report “Mostly a Coverup”
A Hogue Commission document shows a 2021 election digital ad attacking then-Conservative leader Erin O’Toole in a Toronto-area grocery store that is linked to a pro-Beijing businessman.
Sam Cooper
Hogue Report Fuels Diaspora Fears Over Ottawa’s Foreign Interference Weakness
Friends of Hong Kong, a non-partisan diaspora group that withdrew from Ottawa’s Foreign Interference Commission a year ago over concerns it would whitewash Chinese interference and endanger diaspora groups, has issued a blistering rebuke of Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue’s final report.
The group argues the 16-month inquiry fails to show the federal government can counter foreign interference.
In a statement detailing their misgivings, the human rights group says the final report “only serves to deepen our serious reservations regarding our government’s willingness and ability to tackle foreign interference.”
The group criticizes Commissioner Hogue for what they deem to be a pattern of “wilful blindness” in assessing the significance of alleged meddling in Canada’s democratic processes. They also take issue with Hogue’s characterization of foreign interference as “isolated cases,” emphasizing that “even one such case is too many for a democracy like ours.”
In February 2024, group leader Ivy Li explained its public statement and decision not to participate, citing concerns about the Commission’s “objectivity and security integrity.” She said these worries partly stemmed from the perception of Commissioner Hogue’s prior professional links to legal networks affiliated with various former Liberal prime ministers, and from a fear that the inquiry would not deeply probe China’s sophisticated, decades-long influence networks in Canada.
“Judge Hogue and her counsel are lacking expertise in how the Chinese Communist Party thinks and operates,” Li said, “[so] they will easily be manipulated in the whole process by Chinese Communist Party proxies.”
Li also pointed to Hogue’s past work at a Quebec law firm with ties to Pierre Trudeau and Jean Chrétien—two prime ministers known for deep political and business connections to the Chinese Communist regime and Liberal-linked industrialists—as a source of concern for Canadian Friends of Hong Kong.
Among the group’s critiques in a statement issued yesterday is a charge that Hogue “downplayed” the threats posed by transnational repression.
“Justice Hogue adds another blow to the confidence of the diaspora communities,” the group’s statement reads, noting many community members live “under constant fear and threats.”
The organization also disputes the commissioner’s assessment that parliamentarians with “problematic relationships” or “questionable ethics” merely acted naively. “It demonstrates a lack of understanding of the extent and threat that such parliamentarians pose to Canadian democracy,” the group warns, expressing fear that Hogue’s approach “will only condone more of such conduct.”
The Bureau is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
In addition, Canadian Friends of Hong Kong calls for immediate legislation to implement a Foreign Influence Transparency Registry. They urge that the registry’s scope extend beyond the Lobbying Act to include all political parties, all levels of government, and any appointed public office holders. They also call for granting the commissioner and registry full independence from the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
A second diaspora group, representing Uyghur Canadians, similarly withdrew from the Commission in January 2024. Both organizations cited concerns that senior officials with potential ties to the Chinese government were given high-level access during the proceedings. In a post to X yesterday, Uyghur Canadian group leader Mehmet Tohti wrote: “Downplaying the impact of hostile interference, infiltration, and influence in Canada by the [Commission] not only undermines the gravity of the threat but also sends a dangerous message—whether intentionally or not—that such activities can continue unchecked. … The Commissioner and the commission must recognize that this is not just a policy issue; for many of us, it is a matter of life and death.”
Meanwhile, Duff Conacher, a longtime transparency advocate with Democracy Watch, also took aim at Hogue’s final report, calling it “mostly a cover-up of foreign interference, because it ignores a dozen loopholes in federal laws that allow for secret, undemocratic and unethical spending, fundraising, donations, loans, lobbying and disinformation campaigns by foreign proxies.”
Democracy Watch stated the report “fails to recommend crucial reforms to Canada’s enforcement bodies, which remain politically dependent, slow to act, ineffective, secretive, and unaccountable.” The group added, “Any party that triggers an election before these changes are enacted should be shunned by voters for enabling foreign interference.”
The Bureau is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
From LifeSiteNews
Reports state that U.S. peace talks were a ruse and that Trump gave Netanyahu a ‘green light’ to hit Iran’s nuclear and military sites, killing top commanders.
A senior Israeli official told the Jerusalem Post that Tel Aviv and Washington worked together to convince Tehran that diplomacy was still possible after Israel was ready to attack Iran. Just hours before Israel’s massive assault began, President Donald Trump maintained he was still committed to talks.
The Israeli outlet reports, “The round of U.S.-Iranian nuclear negotiations scheduled for Sunday was part of a coordinated U.S.-Israeli deception aimed at lowering Iran’s guard ahead of Friday’s attack.”
READ: Israel strikes Iran’s nuclear sites, kills top commanders in massive air assault
In a post on Truth Social shortly before the Israeli strikes began, Trump declared that “We remain committed to a Diplomatic Resolution to the Iran Nuclear Issue! My entire Administration has been directed to negotiate with Iran. They could be a Great Country, but they first must completely give up hopes of obtaining a Nuclear Weapon. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
After the Israeli attack was in progress, Secretary of State Marco Rubio denied that the U.S. was involved. However, American officials have said the White House was aware Israel was set to begin striking Iran, with Trump telling Fox News he was briefed on the operation.
Barak Ravid of Axios, moreover, later reported that Tel Aviv was given “a clear U.S. green light” to start bombing, citing two unnamed Israeli officials.
Sources speaking with Axios said the perceived split between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was coordinated behind the scenes. “Two Israeli officials claimed to Axios that Trump and his aides were only pretending to oppose an Israeli attack in public – and didn’t express opposition in private,” the report explained. “The goal, they say, was to convince Iran that no attack was imminent and make sure Iranians on Israel’s target list wouldn’t move to new locations.”
The sources said that Trump and Netanyahu discussed the attack during a phone call on Monday. After the call, reports said Trump pressed Netanyahu not to attack Iran, but that was another effort to deceive Iran.
In a second post following the attack, Trump said he gave Iran the opportunity to make a deal, and suggested that Israel used American weapons in the massive air raid. “I gave Iran chance after chance to make a deal. I told them, in the strongest of words, to ‘just do it,’ but no matter how hard they tried, no matter how close they got, they just couldn’t get it done,” the president wrote.
The post continued, “I told them it would be much worse than anything they know, anticipated, or were told, that the United States makes the best and most lethal military equipment anywhere in the World, BY FAR, and that Israel has a lot of it, with much more to come – And they know how to use it.”
The U.S. and Iran began negotiations on establishing a new nuclear agreement in April, with the two sides engaging in five rounds of Omani-mediated talks. At times, a deal appeared possible, with Iranian officials saying the dialogue was leading to progress. A sixth round of talks was scheduled for Sunday, but now appears unlikely.
A second source speaking with the Jerusalem Post said the goal of Israel’s military operations was not the complete destruction of Iran’s nuclear facilities, but rather to hit missile sites and top Iranian leaders to bring down the government.
Israel has conducted several rounds of strikes so far, hitting nuclear facilities, residential buildings in Tehran, and military sites. Iran has confirmed that several military leaders and nuclear scientists were killed in the bombing.
espionage
FBI Director: CCP Behind Wave of Pathogen Smuggling as Third Chinese Student Charged in Michigan Lab Probe
Sam Cooper
“In a follow up interview with FBI and ICE HSI agents, Han admitted to sending the packages and lying about their contents”
In an intensifying pattern of national security investigations targeting unauthorized biological shipments from China into Detroit, U.S. authorities on Monday confirmed the arrest of a third Chinese national allegedly involved in smuggling undeclared bio-materials into the United States—this time for use at a University of Michigan laboratory.
“This case is part of a broader effort from the FBI and our federal partners to heavily crack down on similar pathogen smuggling operations, as the Chinese Communist Party works relentlessly to undermine America’s research institutions,” FBI Director Kash Patel posted to X on Monday evening.
The latest defendant, Chengxuan Han, is a citizen of the People’s Republic of China and a doctoral student at the College of Life Science and Technology in Wuhan. She has been charged with smuggling goods into the U.S. and making false statements, according to a federal criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Detroit.
From September 2024 through March 2025, prosecutors allege, Han sent four international shipments containing concealed biological materials to individuals affiliated with a University of Michigan lab. The contents were identified as Caenorhabditis elegans — roundworms commonly used in genetic and biomedical research. The packages were mis-manifested and not declared in accordance with U.S. import regulations.
On June 8, Han arrived at Detroit Metropolitan Airport on a J-1 visa and was stopped by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers. She allegedly denied having sent any biological materials to the U.S. and made false statements about the nature of the shipments. Agents also discovered that content on her electronic device had been deleted three days before her arrival — a detail included in the federal complaint.
“In a follow up interview with FBI and ICE HSI agents, Han admitted to sending the packages and lying about their contents,” Patel commented.
“The alleged smuggling of biological materials by this alien from a science and technology university in Wuhan, China — to be used at a University of Michigan laboratory — is part of an alarming pattern that threatens our security,” said U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr. “The American taxpayer should not be underwriting a PRC-based smuggling operation at one of our crucial public institutions.”
The case marks the third time in one week that Chinese nationals connected to the University of Michigan have been charged with allegedly smuggling undeclared biological material from China into the U.S. for laboratory research.
On June 3, federal prosecutors charged Yunqing Jian, 33, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Michigan, and her boyfriend, Zunyong Liu, 34, with conspiracy, smuggling goods into the U.S., false statements, and visa fraud. Jian and Liu are accused of importing Fusarium graminearum — a fungus considered in some scientific literature to be a potential agroterrorism threat — into the country without proper declaration.
Officials allege Liu, who conducts research on the same pathogen at a university in China, initially lied to investigators but later admitted to smuggling the fungus for research in Jian’s Michigan lab.
The Bureau is a reader-supported publication.
To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Anti-Trump protests planned across the country on Saturday as LA violence continues
Telegram founder Pavel Durov exposes crackdown on digital privacy in Tucker Carlson interview
Carney’s Promise of Expediting Resource Projects Feels Like a Modern Version of the Wicked Stepmother from Disney’s Cinderella
