LANSING, MI — U.S. Sens. Jonathan Lindsay and Lana Tice sent a letter to Quentin Messer, Secretary of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), urging the state to respond to recent national security concerns by current and former federal officials. The company requested that payments to the Gothion battery factory be temporarily suspended. The letter also asks the state to recoup previously distributed funds.
“National security experts on both sides of the aisle are sounding the alarm on China's attempts to infiltrate our country and undermine our security through industrial espionage,” said Lindsey, an Allen Republican. “Yet, Governor Gretchen Whitmer continues to ignore their warnings and spends taxpayer dollars to do so, further endangering our state and nation.”
President Joe Biden's CIA Director William Burns last week called China the greatest long-term threat to the United States, saying China has “the intent to reshape the international order and the economic, diplomatic, military, and technological capabilities to do so.” He said there is.
In Congressional testimony last month, FBI Director Christopher Wray once again warned of the security threat posed by China. They are silencing, coercing and threatening.”
Former Obama administration CIA Director and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta echoed these concerns, directly citing the Gothion Battery Plant as a threat to American national security. Panetta warned Congress that plans to build a plant in Michigan could expose the country to espionage and that it would be unwise to give tax breaks to federal, state and local governments.
“The Whitmer administration has irresponsibly ignored the concerns of local residents and calls from a bipartisan group of state and federal officials about the serious risks posed by this project,” said Tice, R-Brighton. “We don’t know how many more warnings the governor or MEDC officials will need or who will finally get their attention. The position they are putting our country in is absolutely dangerous and I must scrap the project and recover the funds earmarked for its development.
“Using taxpayer funds to invite foreign enemies in the name of partisan green energy initiatives is reprehensible and cannot continue.”
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Editor's note: A copy of the letter is attached to this email.
