Congressman Fires Staffer With Ties to Chinese Embassy, Investigation Called For

The U.S. Capitol building in Washington on the evening of Aug. 6, 2022. Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images

According to the National Review, Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA) fired a staffer when her connection to the Chinese embassy was brought to the Congressman’s attention. Barbara Hamlett, employed as a scheduler at Beyer’s office since August 2019, allegedly facilitated meetings between other congressional staffers and Chinese embassy staff in Washington D.C.

On Tuesday, the House Sergeant at Arms (SAA) notified Beyer’s office about the investigation into Hamlett, which was triggered by reports from several congressional aids Hamlett apparently had approached.

Beyer’s team conducted their own investigation, which confirmed that Hamlett attempted to schedule off-the-record meetings for Chinese embassy staff with staffers in at least two Republican congressmen’s offices. Hamlett was fired after the investigation.

Beyer’s deputy chief of staff told the National Review that the Congressman “was totally unaware of these activities prior to being contacted by the House Sergeant At Arms,” and that the Democratic congressman  “has a hawkish record on China, and was deeply upset upon learning about Hamlett’s activities.”

Meetings with Chinese Embassy Staff About Bills ‘They Don’t Like’

According to her LinkedIn profile, Hamlett graduated from George Mason University in 1978 and for the next 30 years, worked as executive assistant and scheduler for various offices on Capitol Hill. After 7 years of hiatus, Hamlett re-entered the work force in 2015. For the last 3 years, she worked as a scheduler in Beyer’s office.

Barbara Hamlett's LinkedIn page on Oct. 30, 2022. LinkedIn/Screenshot via The Epoch Times

At this point, it is unclear when Hamlett became a “scheduler” for the Chinese embassy, and whether she was compensated. The National Review found that on at least two occasions, Hamlett approached congressional aids after they ignored repeated email requests for meetings from the Chinese embassy about their boss’s bills. Allegedly, when the Chinese embassy wasn’t happy about certain bills in the works, they tried to intervene via the staffers.

In June, the staffer of a Republican congressman told the National Review that Hamlett visited his office in person and asked him to “step out into the hallway” for a conversation. Hamlett told the staffer that she “was friends with the embassy” and wanted the staffer to have lunch with people from the embassy.

The congressional staffer agreed to coffee. When he showed up for coffee, he sat at a table with a man from the Chinese embassy, while Hamlett sat at a different table with a woman from the Chinese embassy. The man told the congressional aid that “they do not like one of my boss’s bills.”

Beyer’s GOP Challenger Calls For Investigation

FOX news reported that Rep. Beyer’s GOP challenger Karina Lipsman, who has held clearances exceeding Top Secret and has extensive experience in defense and intelligence, called for an investigation into Beyer’s office’s ties to the Chinese government to determine the extent of the national security risk.

Lipsman also said that Beyer should be removed from the House Ways and Means Committee, which handles international trade agreements, and the Joint Economic Committee, of which Beyer is the Chairman.

“His office has clearly been compromised,” Lipsman said in a statement to FOX News Digital.

Lipsman compares the situation to that of Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), who continues to sit on the House Intelligence Committee despite the exposure of his intimate relationship with a Chinese spy.