Rep. Ted Budd Demands Answers Over Biden Administration's China-Russia Intel Sharing

Statement

Today, Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC) sent a letter to President Biden demanding answers after the Biden administration shared critical intelligence on the Russian invasion of Ukraine with China, who then shared that information with the Russian government.

The full text of the letter is below:

Media reports indicate that U.S. intelligence officials shared sensitive information about Russian troop movements during high level discussions with Chinese officials. Unsurprisingly, media reports also claim that U.S. officials learned that Chinese diplomats were taking that shared information right back to Moscow, warning the Kremlin that Washington had a clear picture of Putin's intentions. It is concerning that your administration believed that China could be entrusted with this sensitive information.

As further reports have indicated, the Russian and Chinese governments communicated about the potential invasion as early as February, when, "senior Chinese officials told senior Russian officials in early February not to invade Ukraine before the end of the Winter Olympics in Beijing."

As the current crisis in Ukraine has demonstrated, our foreign policy needs to be grounded in a clear-eyed and realistic understanding of which countries are forces for good and those that are not. Envisioning China as anything but one of those very same uncooperative authoritarian regimes is difficult, if not impossible. Consequently, I request that you provide answers to the following questions:

When did U.S. officials first engage with the Chinese government over methods to avoid an armed invasion of Ukraine? How many follow up meetings occurred?

How much sensitive information was shared with Chinese officials? Was this information likely to have provided China with a picture of the situation they would otherwise not have had?

Was the information provided to China shared with other non-ally nations? Were any of our partners made aware of these efforts to solicit Chinese assistance?

Is there reason to believe that the Chinese relaying of this information to Russia could have jeopardized the continuity of our channels of information?

Is it possible that these second-hand disclosures to Russia could have had a material impact on the development of their invasion plans?

What evidence or reasoning did your administration possess or endorse that could have predicted China would have engaged sincerely with the U.S. in this effort and not misuse our provided intelligence?

If it is not possible to sufficiently answer these questions in an unclassified setting, I request that you schedule a briefing with Congress where these pressing issues will be addressed.

The U.S. faces a diverse and complicated threat environment. Our leaders cannot make critical and unforced errors like sharing sensitive intelligence with China and expect to overcome the challenges of the 21st century. Your administration owes the American people an explanation for why you pursued this flawed course. You also have a responsibility to ensure it never occurs again.

I look forward to your reply.

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