An FBI agent deeply involved in probing connections between a Chinese data center, a U.S. cloud company, and the Department of War suddenly found his investigation interrupted by an unexpected email. This communication informed him of his reassignment, pulling him away from his focus on a potential Chinese Communist Party (CCP) operation. Instead, he was tasked with a ‘security support rotation’ to patrol the streets alongside Washington, D.C. police officers. “There was no explanation, no clarification on who would take over my case files. Was this temporary or indefinite? It turned out to be weeks,” the agent recounted to the Daily Mail.

This agent, who plays a role in the FBI’s DC China Counter Intelligence Program, expressed skepticism about how this redirection towards ‘homeland threats’ aligns with preventing Chinese attacks. He wasn’t the only one experiencing this shift. According to sources speaking to the Daily Mail, dozens of agents were similarly diverted from CCP-related cases earlier in the year. This change followed President Donald Trump’s decision that reducing street crime in the nation’s capital was a higher priority than countering CCP espionage. Two FBI agents corroborated these claims but declined to comment officially.

At the same time, insiders are pointing to rising dissatisfaction within Capitol Hill and federal agencies over Trump’s seemingly lenient stance toward Chinese President Xi Jinping. Many believe the Trump administration is deliberately hindering efforts against Chinese espionage, allegedly to maintain favorable relations with Xi. The reassignment of agents away from China-related investigations and the overall reduction of the federal workforce are viewed as tactics to stall any headway in tackling CCP criminal activities.

‘What I’m hearing is that the administration doesn’t want to rock the boat with China,’ said national security policy adviser LJ Eads. ‘Trump wants to get closer with our enemies and change who our enemies are… change that landscape to befriend those adversaries.’ A person familiar with the House Select Committee on the CCP speculated that there are a number of Trump allies who are ‘hoping to do a lot of business with China,’ and who want the president to keep things friendly. This includes, they said, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (pictured). 

With 20+ years of hedge fund work, the millionaire Trump official divested from groups with holdings in Chinese markets when he was nominated for role with the administration in late 2024. A White House official told the Daily Mail, ‘I don’t think anyone believes we haven’t been adequately tough on China, especially if you look at trade policy.’ But criminal investigations are an entirely different matter and threat level. Eads, who advises multiple government agencies and Congress on national security policy, also claims investigations the Justice Department are conducting into Chinese crimes amounts to little more than dental office X-ray fraud and do little deter CCP espionage in the US.

A Justice Department spokesperson called these claims ‘flat-wrong’ and told the Daily Mail those making them haven’t ‘bothered to review the cases and is simply trying to advance an agenda.’ They also provided links to a list of two dozen cases proving the DOJ has taken action against those involved in drug and firearms trafficking, money laundering, hacking and harassment, to name a few. ‘The Department is dedicated to rooting out threats to our national security, frauds targeting American investors and markets, and those posed by narcotics traffickers and their illicit finance networks, regardless of where those threats originate,’ a spokesperson told the Daily Mail. ‘However, as demonstrated by the cases we have provided to you, the Department has had particular success in countering schemes involving China or Chinese nationals in all three of those areas.’