Trustless trustee: Weaponization of the DOJ by the Chinese Communist Party
OPINION:
In a shockingly direct conflict against the interests and security of the U.S., the CCP has weaponized the DOJ to pursue “dissidents, political rivals, and critics” who have trusted our government’s laws protecting asylum seekers from hostile foreign governments.
U.S. law firms doing business in and on behalf of China are subject to the malign influence of the CCP through the “unrestricted warfare” tactic of lawfare.
In 1992, the CCP began allowing foreign law firms to establish practices in China, requiring, as FBI Director Wray explained, “the law be interpreted according to the CCP’s orders, directives, and interests, and…uphold the leadership of the party.”
No one understands CCP lawfare tactics better than Chinese dissident, Miles Guo, because he’s been their primary target. According to The Wall Street Journal, “Some U.S. national security officials view Mr. Guo, who claims to have potentially valuable information on top Chinese officials and business magnates and on North Korea, as a useful bargaining chip to use with Beijing.”
As the highest-profile defector from Communist China, Guo is an asset of unparalleled strategic importance to U.S. national security. Guo has spent nearly three decades inside the exclusive circle of past and present CCP decision-makers, accumulating knowledge of CCP secrets indispensable to our understanding of America’s arch nemesis.
And the CCP has been abusing the American judicial system to silence Guo through infiltration, bribery, and threats.
The CCP’s weaponization of the U.S. justice system—including attempting to extradite Guo back to China—“flies in the face of significant corroborated information supporting [Guo’s] fears and will naturally lead to a lack of confidence in the [judicial] process as well as unwarranted stress to [Guo] and his family, several who have been jailed and tortured by China,” said Guo’s attorney, Aaron Mitchell.
It appears legal protections for asylum seekers are being actively violated in Mr. Guo’s current proceedings in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court (Case # 22-50073 and 22-05032) by a branch of the DOJ.
Inserting a Bounty Hunter Into the Courthouse:
Luc A. Despins
On June 15, 2022, the Court entered an order directing the U.S. Trustee’s Office (UST)—a branch of the DOJ—to appoint a Chapter 11 trustee to oversee Guo’s assets during court proceedings. Attorney Joe D. Whitley was vetted and signed a sworn Declaration of Disinterestedness under penalty of perjury, after which UST nominated Whitley for appointment as Trustee on June 30, 2022.
Five days later, in an unprecedented move, UST withdrew the nomination and recommended Luc A. Despins, a Partner of Paul Hastings, LLC.
According to a letter by Mitchell, “On June 30, 2022, just before the 4th of July weekend, the UST in light of its excessive delays in appointing a trustee for this matter, filed a motion for an expedited hearing for the Court to approve Mr. Whitley as the trustee…Just hours before the expedited hearing was to begin and with no advance notice to the Debtor (and possibly all parties), the UST took the unusual action of unilaterally withdrawing its Notice of Appointment.”
Mitchell asked “how the U.S. Trustee, in light of the information previously presented by the debtor as well as information available to the U.S. Department of Justice demonstrating that the Debtor is a high-level political target of the authoritarian ruling Chinese Communist Party, believes that the trustee of a firm [Paul Hastings, LLC] with a significant presence in China and Hong Kong and which has done significant business representing Chinese-controlled state entities, can remain a neutral and disinterested party with the ability to avoid undue influence and interference from the Government of China.”
The appointment of Despins has obvious conflicts of interest reflecting the infiltration of the DOJ through CCP “unrestricted warfare” tactics.
Despins has developed business relations with Pacific Alliance Group (a large investment firm based in Hong Kong, headed by alleged CCP spy, Shan Weijian). According to sources, entities represented by Paul Hastings include HNA Group, BioNTech SE, Evergrande, Binance and many other companies tied to the CCP.
Not only is the CCP a client of Paul Hastings, it controls the licenses to operate in China and Hong Kong, holding the purse strings to hundreds of millions of dollars. This allows the CCP to exert tremendous influence and pressure to achieve their objectives.
The UST is aware that the DOJ is currently suing casino tycoon Steve Wynn as an unregistered foreign agent of China due to his attempt to have Mr. Guo extradited under threat of losing his gambling licenses in Macau. The UST has shown it is incapable of identifying and appointing a disinterested trustee in this case.
The letter continues, “At the hearing, the Bankruptcy Judge pointed out the unusual nature of this action by the UST and questioned the UST legal authority to do so. The UST did not provide a detailed explanation for this rash action at the hearing nor was Mr. Whitley called to explain the conflict to all parties and the Court. The UST simply swept Mr. Whitley away from the Debtor, the parties, and the public.”
Asked to explain their rationale, the UST refused to answer, citing “government privilege.” In the present political climate, such an unacceptable lack of transparency calls for investigation.
• Kelly John Walker is Founder of FreedomTalk and a senior writer for The Epoch Times.
