President Joe Biden's designated infrastructure manager Mitch Landrieu, the former mayor of New Orleans, has concerning ties to Chinese Communist Party influence organizations that should "disqualify" him from the job, according to Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis.
"Mitch Landrieu served as an adviser to the United States China Heartland Association, a group that is funded by CCP United Front organizations and that promotes Chinese investment in U.S. infrastructure projects," Gallagher wrote in a statement this week.
"This should disqualify him from overseeing the implementation of President Biden's massive infrastructure package. The president must immediately reconsider this selection and find another individual — who hasn't advised an entity funded by the CCP — to do the job."
Like Biden's nominee to head the Export-Import Bank, Reta Jo Lewis, Landrieu serves as strategic adviser to the Heartland Association, The Washington Free Beacon reported.
"United States Heartland China Association [USHCA] is a 501(c)3 bipartisan organization committed to building stronger ties between USHCA Region [20 states located in the USA between the Great Lakes to the Gulf] and the People's Republic of China," the group's website reads.
"Our focus will be on Trust Building efforts connecting government officials; business leaders; educational and community interests with like minded institutions between the Heartland Region and the People's Republic of China."
It adds its "mission" is "to foster and support a positive, productive, and mutually beneficial relationship between the United States and China by creating more channels of collaboration and opportunities for economic growth in the American Heartland Region."
Landrieu has been designated senior adviser and infrastructure coordinator of the recently signed $1.2 trillion infrastructure spending law, and he would hold influence over the allocation of the funds, including waivers to buy materials from foreign companies, according to the Free Beacon.
The Heartland Association is compromised because it has "received funding from CCP-affiliated organizations," according to Gallagher.
Landrieu's sister is former Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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