House Lawmakers Seek Review of How FBI Investigates Foreign Probing of US Military Bases

Navy security personnel check a driver’s identification card at a security gate leading to Naval Air Station Key West on Feb. 7, 2018. (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Cody R. Babin/Released)

House Oversight Committee leaders have urged the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to review how the Department of Justice (DOJ) investigates instances of foreign nationals probing sensitive U.S. facilities.

Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and National Security, Border, and Foreign Affairs Subcommittee Chairman Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) sent a letter to GAO Comptroller General Gene Dadaro on July 30 urging his office to review how the DOJ reviews “non-traditional” intelligence collectors; namely, foreign nationals who appear to lack any specific training as an intelligence officer.

“Foreign intelligence organizations often utilize traditional intelligence officers for higher-risk collection, but they also use non-traditional collectors such as foreign nationals on student visas, to collect less high-risk information,” the two lawmakers wrote. “While these individuals might not be professionally trained intelligence officers, they may still be positioned and motivated to collect information aimed at jeopardizing U.S. national security.”

The two lawmakers raised particular concern over potentially hundreds of instances in which Chinese nationals have trespassed or attempted to trespass onto U.S. military installations in recent years. The lawmakers said some Chinese nationals have posed as tourists or delivery drivers in their efforts to gain access to these sensitive installations.

Last year, the House committee called on Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and FBI Director Christopher Wray to brief them about this pattern of trespassing incidents on U.S. military bases. Mr. Comer and Mr. Grothman stated in their Tuesday letter that the briefings they eventually received heightened their concerns that the FBI “does not dedicate the proper resources, or have adequate processes in place, to detect, monitor, and counter, non-traditional collectors.”

In their letter to Mr. Grothman, the two lawmakers called for the GAO to review whether the FBI has specific procedures for investigating suspected non-traditional intelligence collectors. The lawmakers further asked GAO reviewers to examine whether these procedures differ from more traditional espionage investigations and whether any procedural or cultural barriers at the FBI undermine these investigative efforts.

The Epoch Times reached out to the FBI and the DOJ for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.

Some of these Chinese nationals have been prosecuted for their efforts to gain access to U.S. military bases.

Chinese nationals Wang Yuhao and Zhang Jielun, both Chinese citizens, were arrested at Naval Air Station (NAS) Key West in January 2019 after venturing onto the base and taking photos. According to court records, a security guard instructed the two Chinese nationals that they were unauthorized to enter the facility and that they could only proceed far enough to turn around. The pair instead continued onto the base.

Those two Chinese nationals later pleaded guilty to illegally entering the Navy base and were sentenced to prison in June 2020. A third Chinese national, Lyuyou Liao, also pleaded guilty in June 2020 for a similar but separate effort to enter NAS Key West.