I know it’s a cliche to say this, but I want you to imagine what the Republicans would do with information like this if Democrats were involved:
A fugitive Chinese mogul who has worked closely with Steve Bannon—and who is under federal investigation for fraud—spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to support efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Through a series of opaque financial transactions, a company controlled by the exiled businessman Guo Wengui spent more than $400,000 for hundreds of his supporters to take part in a November 14, 2020, rally in Washington promoting Donald Trump’s false claims of election fraud. The company also gave $100,000 to an organization run by prominent pro-Trump attorney Lin Wood—apparently to finance litigation that was aimed at reversing Joe Biden’s victory in Georgia. These payments are detailed in receipts, wire transfer records, and WhatsApp messages obtained by Mother Jones.
Wood said in interviews that the $100,000 donation to his nonprofit, the Fightback Foundation, was arranged by Bannon, the former Trump adviser and influential right-wing media figure. According to Wood, Bannon claimed the money came from a donor in Illinois. Documentation obtained by Mother Jones indicates that the funds came originally from Guo. Bannon did not respond to a request for comment. Neither did Guo and his attorney.
Guo’s backers distributed fliers that read, “Jesus is king; Trump is President.”
Guo is a former Chinese real estate developer—once ranked as the 74th richest person in China—who fled that country in 2014 ahead of corruption and other charges there. After arriving in New York, he set up shop in a lavish Manhattan apartment and gained attention by launching a torrent of unsubstantiated accusations of corruption and sexual misconduct by Chinese Communist Party elites.
Partnering with Bannon, Guo launched Chinese-language media companies and developed a sprawling network of zealous backers from the Chinese diaspora, including club-like organizations in the United States and cities around the world. Guo uses that network to raise capital for various business ventures—a fashion company, crypto currency—and to advance often bizarre conspiracy theories about China, Covid, and US politics. The New Federal State of China, launched in 2020 by Guo and Bannon, purports to be a government-in-waiting, ready to replace the Chinese Communist Party, which Guo claims is poised to collapse. As Mother Jones has reported, Guo and his backers aggressively supported Trump in 2020, promoting false claims about Chinese influence over Hunter Biden and publishing sexually explicit material from Hunter’s laptop. In 2021 Guo promoted the unfounded conspiracy theory that Chinese hackers had switched votes from Trump to Biden.
Stay tuned for more on this. Bannon will be going to trial in his contempt trial next month and he’s promising that it will be a circus.