US House Committee Urges BofA & JPM To Abandon Chinese Firm’s IPO Deal Chairman John Moolenaar of the House Select Committee on China urged JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan to withdraw from the Chinese battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology’s (CATL) initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong, citing “serious national security threats and due diligence failures.” “If JPMorgan and Bank of America proceed with this IPO, they risk complicity in underwriting genocide, undermining American industry, and endangering U.S. service members,” Moolenaar stated in a press release, referring to the letter he sent the heads of JPM and BofA.  He continued: “The letters outline serious national security threats and due diligence failures. The company’s reported aggressive pursuit of the CATL deal, despite its low fee structure and their defense ties, adds to concerns over risk and regulatory oversight,” adding, “As Chairman, I am closely monitoring how major financial institutions engage with companies linked to the Chinese Communist Party. The House Select Committee on China is actively examining these relationships, and we urge JPMorgan and Bank of America to prioritize national security and human rights in their decision-making.” Moolenaar emphasized that CATL was designated as a “Chinese military company” under Section 1260H of the National Defense Authorization Act earlier this year.  JPM and BofA’s potential participation in the HK IPO “directly aids the Chinese Communist Party’s military buildup and ongoing human rights abuses,” the chairman of the House Select Committee on China warned.  Moolenaar noted that CATL has ties “to the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC)—a sanctioned paramilitary entity involved in the genocide of Uyghur Muslims—and its role in modernizing China’s submarine fleet with advanced lithium-ion batteries.” According to public trade data compiled by counterparty and supply chain risk intelligence firm Sayari, CATL is 1 to 3 hops away

President Trump is making a bold move to reshape America’s timber industry, directing federal agencies to boost domestic lumber production while investigating whether foreign imports pose a national security threat.

The Remarkable Rags-to-Riches Story Of Stacey Abrams Authored by Paul Sperry via RealClearInvestigations, By her own admission, Stacey Abrams has made a number of “personal financial missteps” in her career. Despite a history marked by bill collectors, tax liens, and ethics investigations, the Georgia politician and Democratic Party activist has managed to amass a small fortune – while working most of her career in the not-for-profit sector.  Financial records show that when she first entered statewide politics in 2018, she reported a net worth of less than $109,000. By 2022, the last year she had to publicly file a financial report, it had grown to more than $3.2 million. Abrams is probably even better off than that, thanks to her latest venture: Rewiring America, which uses federal funds to provide low-income people with free electric appliances.  The green-energy startup hired Abrams as senior counsel in 2023 after she helped secure federal funding for the nonprofit by putting together an umbrella group that applied for and won grants totaling $1.9 billion from the Biden Environmental Protection Agency, according to a podcast interview she gave last year. Those funds were frozen last month by the Trump administration while it investigates the grant application and award process along with Congress.  It’s just the latest in a string of investigations involving Abrams, who has presidential ambitions, and nonprofits she’s launched. Last month, Georgia lawmakers announced a special probe into her New Georgia Project and its fundraising arm, which failed to report millions of dollars in contributions and spending tied to Abrams’ first gubernatorial bid. She’s also been accused by ethics watchdogs of personally misusing political donations raised for her campaigns.  “I’ve always been concerned about her leveraging public service to enrich herself,” William Perry, who formerly led the Georgia chapter of liberal Common Cause, told RealClearInvestigations. Perry, who developed a thick