{"id":605378,"date":"2021-07-28T18:51:36","date_gmt":"2021-07-28T22:51:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=605378"},"modified":"2021-07-28T18:51:41","modified_gmt":"2021-07-28T22:51:41","slug":"watch-ted-cruzs-question-on-chinese-cyberattacks-on-u-s-leaves-bidens-doj-silent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/watch-ted-cruzs-question-on-chinese-cyberattacks-on-u-s-leaves-bidens-doj-silent\/","title":{"rendered":"WATCH: Ted Cruz\u2019s Question On Chinese Cyberattacks On U.S. Leaves Biden\u2019s DOJ Silent"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwatch-ted-cruzs-question-on-chinese-cyberattacks-on-u-s-leaves-bidens-doj-silent%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=605378&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Ted-Cruz-scaled-1.jpg?w=1200&amp;h=800&amp;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) left President Joe Biden\u2019s Department of Justice silent this week when he pressed them about why the administration has not sanctioned communist China for repeated cyberattacks against the United States.<\/p>\n<p>Cruz, who also noted the administration\u2019s weak record on Russia, made the remarks during a Senate hearing on Tuesday when he was questioning Richard Downing, the U.S. Department of Justice Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cChina has repeatedly used ransomware and cyber-attacks to harm America,\u201d Cruz said. \u201cNot only has it attacked pipelines in an effort to cause physical damage, but just this year, hackers affiliated with the Chinese government attacked tens of thousands of computers across tens of thousands of organizations, including a significant number of small businesses, towns, cities, and local governments. Once again, unfortunately, the Biden administration responded to extreme threats with extreme weakness.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Biden administration has not imposed any sanctions on China. Instead, the administration announced that it is dropping criminal cases against five Chinese scientists who, with the help of consular officials, hid their affiliations with China\u2019s military in order to infiltrate our nation,\u201d Cruz continued. \u201cMr. Downing, why is this administration refusing to prosecute Chinese scientists who lied about their ties to the Chinese military in order to come to this country and gain access to information?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would have to say that from my position in the criminal division, I am not responsible for those decisions,\u201d Downing responded. \u201cHowever, it is something that I\u2019d be happy to take back and get you an answer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd let me ask anyone on the panel. Do you have an answer as to why the administration has not sanctioned China for repeated cyber-attacks over and over and over again against the United States?\u201d Cruz pressed.<\/p>\n<p>After several moments of silence, Cruz responded: \u201cWell, I think that\u2019s a question that the administration should answer. Showing weakness to China and weakness to Russia only invites more aggression and more cyber-attacks attacking our nation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>WATCH:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"13.318965517241\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Sen. Ted Cruz to DOJ, FBI, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and Secret Service: &#8220;Do you have an answer as to why the administration has not sanctioned China for repeated cyber attacks over and over and over again against the United States?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Crickets in response. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/hZCAdFdwCz\">pic.twitter.com\/hZCAdFdwCz<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SteveGuest\/status\/1420064320021467140?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 27, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cruz.senate.gov\/?p=press_release&amp;id=5968\">TRANSCRIPT<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"67\">\n<p><em>SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX):&nbsp;Ransomware attacks have become more and more common, and more and more dangerous. In May of this year, hackers based in Russia shut down Colonial Pipeline, a pipeline that carries gasoline to the southeastern United States. And what did the Biden administration do? Next to nothing. The administration sat around as gas lines formed up and down the Eastern Seaboard. And the White House Deputy National Security Adviser tried to absolve \u2014 the Biden administration tried to absolve the president from any responsibility whatsoever, saying, \u2018Colonial is a private company, and we\u2019ll defer information regarding their decision on paying a ransom to them.\u2019 While later, after Colonial paid a $4.4 million ransom, President Biden decided to reward Russia for allowing this hack. He greenlit the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, a natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany that will put billions of dollars in the pockets of Vladimir Putin. Then he sat down with Putin and told him that only certain parts of America\u2019s critical infrastructure should be off-limits, he specified 16 parts that were off-limits. Call me crazy \u2014 I think all of our critical infrastructure should be off-limits to Russian hacking. When the president enumerates 16 that matter, that is an invitation to hack every other part of our infrastructure. Mr. Downing, does paying ransom encourage more ransomware attacks?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>RICHARD DOWNING, DOJ DEPUTY ASSISTANT AG OF THE CRIMINAL DIVISION: I think it\u2019s fair to say that when criminals profit, they draw more criminals into that space, and so the paying of ransoms is certainly one thing that fuels the increase of ransomware attacks that we\u2019ve seen.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>CRUZ:&nbsp;Is telling Putin that only certain parts of our infrastructure [are] off-limits, does that have the potential to encourage more attacks like the Colonial Pipeline attack?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>DOWNING:&nbsp;I would have to say that the president\u2019s communications with Putin are outside of my purview. However, I can assure you that we are continuing to press for results. And we are not waiting around from a law enforcement perspective to see what would happen there. We are pursuing the cases and the investigations and the activities that we would in order to do the very best that we can to drive deterrence and to arrest and disrupt these operations.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>CRUZ: The idea that malevolent actors would go after infrastructure like pipelines \u2014 that is a threat we\u2019ve been aware of for some time. China has repeatedly used ransomware and cyber-attacks to harm America. Not only has it attacked pipelines in an effort to cause physical damage, but just this year, hackers affiliated with the Chinese government attacked tens of thousands of computers across tens of thousands of organizations, including a significant number of small businesses, towns, cities, and local governments. Once again, unfortunately, the Biden administration responded to extreme threats with extreme weakness. The Biden administration has not imposed any sanctions on China. Instead, the administration announced that it is dropping criminal cases against five Chinese scientists who, with the help of consular officials, hid their affiliations with China\u2019s military in order to infiltrate our nation. Mr. Downing, why is this administration refusing to prosecute Chinese scientists who lied about their ties to the Chinese military in order to come to this country and gain access to information?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>DOWNING:&nbsp;Senator, thank you for the question. I would have to say that from my position in the criminal division, I am not responsible for those decisions. However, it is something that I\u2019d be happy to take back and get you an answer [for].<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>CRUZ: And let me ask anyone on the panel: Do you have an answer as to why the administration has not sanctioned China for repeated cyber-attacks over and over and over again against the United States? \u2026 Well, I think that\u2019s a question that the administration should answer. Showing weakness to China and weakness to Russia only invites more aggression and more cyber-attacks attacking our nation.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><i><span>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><i><span>member<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) left President Joe Biden\u2019s Department of Justice silent this week when he pressed them about why the administration has not sanctioned communist China for repeated cyberattacks &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-605378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=605378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605378\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=605378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=605378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=605378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}