{"id":726973,"date":"2021-09-07T13:50:17","date_gmt":"2021-09-07T17:50:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=726973"},"modified":"2021-09-07T13:50:19","modified_gmt":"2021-09-07T17:50:19","slug":"exclusive-house-republicans-launch-investigation-into-epa-officials-continued-ties-with-chinese-government-controlled-university","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-house-republicans-launch-investigation-into-epa-officials-continued-ties-with-chinese-government-controlled-university\/","title":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: House Republicans Launch Investigation Into EPA Official\u2019s Continued Ties With Chinese Government-Controlled University"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/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%2Fexclusive-house-republicans-launch-investigation-into-epa-officials-continued-ties-with-chinese-government-controlled-university%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=726973&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\/08\/biden-smirk-scaled-e1629410399713.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Republican members of the House Oversight Committee sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday demanding the agency provide records related to a political appointee\u2019s continued ties with a Chinese government-controlled university.<\/p>\n<p>The Daily Caller News Foundation previously reported that EPA Deputy Assistant Administrator for Science Policy Dr. Christopher Frey, who was appointed by President Joe Biden in early February, disclosed in his ethics <a href=\"https:\/\/www.protectpublicstrust.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Christopher-Frey-Recusal.pdf\">recusal statement<\/a> that he had taken an unpaid leave of absence from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). The ex officio <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidehighered.com\/news\/2021\/07\/30\/hong-kongs-universities-face-realities-national-security-law\">chancellor<\/a> of the university, Carrie Lam, is also Beijing\u2019s hand-picked bureaucrat to serve as the chief executive of Hong Kong.<\/p>\n<p>The watchdog group Protect the Public\u2019s Trust, which first obtained Frey\u2019s recusal statement, said the university is effectively an arm of the Chinese government and that \u201cone can presume from the leave that [Frey] plans to return to his employment with the Chinese government upon completing his tenure at EPA.\u201d <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/08\/24\/biden-epa-appointee-university-hong-kong-china-christopher-frey\/\">(RELATED: Biden EPA Appointee Allowed To Retain Ties With University Controlled By Chinese Government)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>South Carolina Republican Rep. Ralph Norman, the ranking member of the Environment Subcommittee of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, wrote in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/document\/523714197\/Letter-to-EPA-on-Chris-Frey?secret_password=vYb3LE5801Xw5lAjX3RI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">letter<\/a> Tuesday to EPA Administrator Michael Regan that Frey\u2019s continued professional ties with the university raise concern about his ability to fulfill the duties of his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.epa.gov\/aboutepa\/about-office-research-and-development-ord\">office,<\/a> which is tasked with conducting research that serves as the basis for EPA decision making related to safeguarding human health and ecosystems from environmental pollutants.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInstead of resigning his position with HKUST, he is only taking a leave of absence, indicating Dr. Frey intends to return to work for KHUST after his service in the Biden Administration,\u201d the letter states. \u201cAt a time when the Biden Administration is pushing for costly climate change \u2018solutions\u2019 that benefit China, it raises questions about why a senior EPA official has such strong ties to China, the world\u2019s largest emitter of greenhouse gases.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Norman\u2019s letter demanded the EPA provide documents to his committee related to Frey\u2019s affiliation with HKUST and any communications he has had since his appointment with anyone affiliated with the university.<\/p>\n<p>The EPA <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/08\/25\/epa-stands-by-allow-biden-appointee-retain-ties-chinese-controlled-university\/\">stood by<\/a> its decision to allow Frey to retain his relationship with KHUST.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cConsistent with White House policy over several administrations, political appointees (with the exception of Senate-confirmed appointees) are permitted to take a leave of absence from an academic institution during their government tenure, provided that the required recusals are in place to avoid a potential or actual conflict of interest,\u201d EPA spokesman Timothy Carroll previously told the DCNF. \u201cDr. Frey has executed the appropriate recusal statement and will continue to follow the guidance of ethics officials.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Protect the Public\u2019s Trust Director Michael Chamberlain applauded the Republican lawmakers for investigating Frey\u2019s ties to China.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs the members mention, not only is China the world\u2019s largest emitter of greenhouse gases but dissent and academic freedom are under increasing attack at the very institution with which Frey is affiliated,\u201d Chamberlain said. \u201cIn the midst of questions swirling over the Biden family\u2019s financial relationship with China, the EPA\u2019s nonchalant defense of Frey\u2019s ongoing relationship should raise serious red flags in the eyes of the American public.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The EPA did not immediately return a request for comment.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"View Letter to EPA on Chris Frey on Scribd\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/document\/523714197\/Letter-to-EPA-on-Chris-Frey#from_embed\">Letter to EPA on Chris Frey<\/a> by <a title=\"View Andrew Kerr&#039;s profile on Scribd\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/user\/393392910\/Andrew-Kerr#from_embed\">Andrew Kerr<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact <a href=\"mailto:licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org\">licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Republican members of the House Oversight Committee sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday demanding the agency provide records related to a political appointee\u2019s continued ties with &#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-726973","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\/726973","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=726973"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/726973\/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=726973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=726973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=726973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}