House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) has issued a subpoena to the Department of Homeland Security for records related to Democrat vice presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz’s alleged connections to the Chinese Communist Party.

The Republican-led committee revealed on Monday that a whistleblower recently informed them about a non-classified group chat among DHS employees and additional intelligence reports that “contain information regarding a longstanding connection between the CCP and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.”

Comer announced last month that his committee was launching an investigation into Walz’s disturbing ties to the Chicoms, charging that the Minnesota governor had previously “engaged and partnered with” Chinese entities.

Through his company  “Educational Travel Adventures, Inc.,” Walz organized a trip to China for a group of high school students in the 1990s, with costs reportedly paid by the Chinese government.

According to Comer, Walz has traveled to China about “30 times.”

The chairman said this type of engagement made him “susceptible” to the CCP’s strategy of co-opting influential elites in political, cultural and academic circles to “influence the United States to the benefit of the communist regime and the detriment of Americans.”

Comer also noted that during Walz’s time in Congress, he served as a fellow at the Macau Polytechnic University, a Chinese institution that portrays itself as having a “long-held devotion to and love for the motherland.”

“At the time he disclosed serving as a Macau fellow, Mr. Walz also had significant credit card debt,” Comer stated last month when he announced the investigation. He also pointed out that in 2019, Walz headlined the 27th National Convention for the U.S. China Peoples Friendship Association in Minnesota.

“Governor Walz spoke alongside the president of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, which, a year later, the Department of State exposed as ‘a Beijing-based organization tasked with co-opting subnational governments,’ including efforts to ‘directly and malignly influence state and local leaders to promote the PRC’s global agenda,’” Comer said.

“Despite bipartisan efforts to identify and defeat CCP unrestricted warfare against America, Governor Walz continues problematic engagement with concerning entities and individuals,” Comer wrote. For instance, in March 2024, Walz met with Consul General Zhao Jian to discuss “China-U.S. relations and sub-national cooperation,” he added.

The Kentucky Congressman said the committee has since “learned that further relevant information regarding Governor Walz has been memorialized in both classified and unclassified documents in the control of DHS.”

In a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas Monday, Comer requested intelligence reports, documents, and communications in its possession related to Governor Timothy Walz’s connections to the Chinese Communist Party.

“The committee has recently received whistleblower disclosures informing the Committee of serious concern among Department of Homeland Security personnel regarding a longstanding connection between the CCP and Minnesota Governor Timothy James Walz,” Comer wrote in the subpoena cover letter to Mayorkas.

“Specifically, through whistleblower disclosures, the Committee has learned of a non-classified, Microsoft Teams group chat among DHS employees—titled ‘NST NFT Bi-Weekly Sync’—that contains information about Governor Walz that is relevant to the Committee’s investigation,” Comer wrote. “The Committee has also learned that further relevant information regarding Governor Walz has been memorialized in both classified and unclassified documents in the control of DHS.”

Comer said the Committee’s investigation of the CCP, which began “long before” Walz was nominated, has been examining the extent of the CCP’s infiltration and influence operations and working on legislative reforms “to combat CCP political warfare targeting prominent Americans for elite capture.”

In particular, if a state governor and major political party’s nominee for Vice President of the United States has been a witting or unwitting participant in the CCP’s efforts to weaken our nation, this would strongly suggest that there are alarming weaknesses in the federal government’s effort to defend the United States from the CCP’s political warfare that must be urgently addressed.

Along those lines, the Committee is currently considering legislative solutions to ameliorate deficiencies it already has identified among government agencies’ strategies to combat CCP political warfare. The information required of DHS by the Committee’s subpoena will inform the Committee’s understanding of how successful the CCP has been in waging political warfare in and against the United States, how effectively federal agencies are addressing the communist regime’s campaign, and what reforms are necessary to counter this threat.

Comer subpoenaed DHS for “all documents and communications in the Microsoft Teams group chat from July 1, 2024, to present, and any uploaded or embedded attachments and documents referring to or relating to Walz or his gubernatorial office or staff,” as well as “all intelligence information reports and regional intelligence notes from November 2023 to present related to Walz.”

Comer also commanded Mayorkas to appear for a deposition before the Oversight Committee on October 7 to answer questions.