Rep. Matt Gates (R-Florida) was swiftly shut down by Pentagon officials on Tuesday after he tried to present Chinese propaganda as a credible source at a congressional hearing.
During a hearing before the House Armed Services Committee, Gaetz took the time to criticize US efforts to help defend Ukraine against Russian aggression. The committee spoke with several senior Pentagon officials, including Colin Carr, Undersecretary of Defense for Policy.
Gates began criticizing Karl by asking if the Pentagon is currently stationing personnel in Ukraine. Karl confirmed that there were “dozens” of Pentagon personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Kiev, but no other personnel.
Karl declined to answer Gates’ question about whether CIA officials were “training people in Ukraine”, stressing that such topics can only be discussed in a classified setting. supplied arms to Ukraine’s Azov Battalion (a far-right nationalist militia), Karl replied, “Not that I know.”
A Florida Republican then tried to make a pitfall by getting into what he said was an investigative report by the Global Times. English daily newspaper It is a subsidiary of the People’s Daily, the flagship newspaper of the Communist Party of China.
Gates, who appeared oblivious to the tabloid’s propaganda links, cited the report claiming that the US was supplying the Azov Battalion with weapons as early as 2018. Is this China’s Global Times?
“No, this is…” Gates said before he was satisfied with the report in front of him. “Yeah, maybe. Yeah.”
“As a general matter, I don’t take Beijing propaganda at face value,” Carl said, pressing his right index finger to his temple.
After Karl repeated this statement again, Gates conceded. “Well, I would agree with that assessment,” he said.
Global Times is popular It is called “China’s Fox News”. He often deals with international issues from China’s ultra-nationalist perspective. Under the Trump administration, the State Department has designated tabloids as “foreign missions” that are “substantially owned or substantially controlled” by the Chinese government. According to the Washington Post.
Gates’ introduction of the Global Times report as material for the congressional hearings China Offers Weapons to Aid Russia War with Ukraine.
Before going after Karl, Gates spent several minutes trying to convince Pentagon Inspector General Robert Stolch to admit that the Biden administration had lost track of U.S. funding to Ukraine, but to no avail. .Gates and others Republican House extremists want to stop US aid to Ukraine.