All articles tagged with #foreign agent
Arcadia Mayor Eileen Wang resigns after entering into a plea agreement alleging she acted as a Chinese government agent to promote Beijing’s propaganda in the United States from 2020–2022, a case that has sparked anxiety about China’s influence and a potential rise in anti-Asian sentiment in the San Gabriel Valley.
Federal prosecutors have charged Arcadia, California Mayor Eileen Wang with acting as an illegal agent for the Chinese government, alleging she covertly promoted Beijing’s interests while concealing ties to Chinese authorities and influencing local political matters.
Arcadia Mayor Eileen Wang has pleaded guilty to acting as an illegal agent of the Chinese government, admitting she and former fiancé Yaoning Sun promoted pro-China propaganda on the U.S. News Center; Sun was already sentenced to four years. Wang resigned as mayor and could face up to 10 years in federal prison.
Arcadia Mayor Eileen Wang agreed to plead guilty to acting as an illegal agent for the Chinese government and resigned. She and Yaoning Sun operated the U.S. News Site from 2020–2022 to promote PRC propaganda, coordinating with Chinese officials and pushing favorable content, including a Los Angeles Times op-ed. Sun has already been sentenced to 20 months; Wang faces up to 10 years in federal prison. City officials say no city finances or decision-making were involved and the conduct ceased after Wang took office in December 2022.
Arcadia Mayor Eileen Wang is charged with acting as an illegal agent of the PRC, admitting to working for the Chinese government on U.S. soil and not notifying U.S. authorities, and directing the pro-China U.S. News Center to publish propaganda, including a Xinjiang-related piece; she resigned, faces up to 10 years in prison under a plea deal, while co-defendant Yaoning Sun is already serving a four-year sentence.
Arcadia Mayor Eileen Wang reached a federal plea agreement to plead guilty to acting as an illegal foreign agent for China, admitting she posted Chinese government–directed propaganda and did not disclose its source; she resigned after the plea was unsealed. The case is linked to her ex-fiancé Yaoning “Mike” Sun, who was sentenced to four years in federal prison for similar charges. The conduct occurred before her 2022 City Council election, and the charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.
Mexico asserted that two U.S. CIA agents killed in a northern Mexico crash were not authorized to participate in operations on Mexican soil; one agent entered as a visitor and the other with a diplomatic passport, and Mexico says it had no knowledge of foreign agents operating there, with the U.S. Embassy involved as authorities review the case amid conflicting accounts.
Sen. Marco Rubio testified in a federal case against his longtime friend David Rivera, alleging Rivera acted as an unregistered foreign agent in a $50 million Venezuela-related deal with CITGO. Rubio described Rivera’s 2017 meetings about a potential Maduro exit and questioned whether Rivera was advancing Maduro’s interests or secretly pushing for his departure, highlighting the broader effort by Venezuela to normalize ties with the U.S. through money and influence.
Four CNN sources say Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was asked by Kamala Harris’s vetting team whether he had ever been an agent of a foreign government—prompts cited China's influence as Walz had traveled there before his political career—mirroring a similar line of questioning that led Dana Remus to ask Josh Shapiro if he had ever been an agent for Israel. Shapiro called that inquiry offensive and linked it to concerns about antisemitism; aides describe vetting as a standard but sometimes expanded process, and Harris allies disclosed Walz’s questioning to help explain the rushed vetting as she moved to join the ticket.
Former U.S. ambassador to Bolivia, Victor Manuel Rocha, will plead guilty to charges of spying for Cuba for decades, including acting as an illegal foreign agent and using a fraudulently obtained passport. The Justice Department described it as one of the highest-reaching and longest-lasting infiltrations of the U.S. government by a foreign agent. Rocha, who served on the White House's National Security Council and as an adviser to the U.S. military's Southern Command, admitted his decades of work for Cuba in meetings with an undercover FBI agent posing as a covert Cuban intelligence representative.
Senator John Fetterman responds to Senator Bob Menendez's accusation of being a "schoolyard bully" as Fetterman pushes for Menendez to be barred from classified hearings due to Menendez facing charges involving a foreign agent of Egypt.
Former U.S. Ambassador to Bolivia, Victor Manuel Rocha, has been arrested and charged with acting as a foreign agent of Cuba. Prosecutors allege that Rocha spied on behalf of Cuba's intelligence agency for decades, referring to the U.S. as "the enemy" and supporting Cuba's intelligence-gathering mission. Rocha had access to sensitive information as an employee of the State Department and allegedly fostered an ongoing relationship with Cuban handlers. The charges come almost a year after another Cuban spy, Ana Montes, was released from prison after spying for Cuba for 17 years.
The Russian Justice Ministry has designated The Moscow Times as a "foreign agent," subjecting the popular English-language online newspaper to increased scrutiny and undermining its credibility. The move is part of a broader crackdown on opposition media in Russia, which has included labeling Nobel Prize-winning editor Dmitry Muratov as a foreign agent and shutting down his publication, Novaya Gazeta. The Moscow Times had already relocated its newsroom to the Netherlands in 2022 due to new media regulations following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Democratic Senator Bob Menendez's wife, Nadine Arslanian Menendez, kept a low profile as her husband pleaded not guilty to charges of accepting bribes and acting as a foreign agent for Egypt. Nadine was seen leaving their New Jersey home while Bob appeared in court. The couple has been accused of accepting cash and gold bars in exchange for using Bob's influence to benefit Egypt's government and interfere with law enforcement probes. Bob denies the charges and claims he is being targeted unfairly. Nadine has also been charged with conspiracy. The New Jersey Attorney General is investigating a 2018 crash involving Nadine, in which she killed a man, to determine if it was properly investigated.
Senator Bob Menendez is set to plead "not guilty" to an additional charge of acting as a foreign agent in a Manhattan court. Menendez, who allegedly acted as an agent for the Egyptian government, faces accusations of accepting bribes to benefit Egypt through his position as a senator. Menendez's wife and other defendants in the case have also entered "not guilty" pleas. The superseding indictment includes allegations of providing sensitive U.S. government information and engaging in a corrupt relationship with businessmen. Menendez has denied the charges and maintains his loyalty to the United States.