Ranking Member Morelle Highlights Committee Democrats' Investigation

It comes to upholding the integrity of American elections when it comes to protecting and defending the rule of law. Sadly, Republicans are absent without leave. Distracted by their pretextual partisan investigations into Democratic fundraising, Republicans ignored the fire raging in their own house. So if Republicans on this committee, afraid of crossing Donald Trump, refuse to investigate this corruption, Democrats will. Let's begin with the Chinese businessman who used Winrad to illegally funnel money to President Trump. Public reporting indicated that Jiajun Jack Zhang, a jet-setting Chinese businessman, used Winrad to illegally send $5,000 to President Trump's campaign, listing a California hotel as his address. How did Winrad's internal legal compliance system allow this? Why wasn't this contribution and potentially scores of others like it blocked? Committee Republicans don't seem to care about the answers to these questions. So Democrats have stepped up. We began our own investigation. What did we find? Democrats found that while Mr. Zhang was corruptly funneling money through Winrad, he was allegedly involved in a poker tournament at a casino that once owed a $3.1 million settlement to the California Justice Department for violating the Bank Secrecy Act. A casino that also paid, incidentally, a $2.8 million penalty to the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. A casino that on a separate occasion admitted that it failed to properly follow federal anti-money laundering laws. What was this Chinese national who we know was channeling illegal money to President Trump really doing at the casino? Who was he meeting with? Why do House Republicans refuse to investigate this egregious violation of federal law? Is it because the corrupt illegal money flowed through Winrad to President Trump? Let's take another example. A no doubt imaginary person identified only as Alex A gave nearly $5,000 to President Trump's campaign in 2024 through Winrad. This Alex person listed an address 428 Street Northeast, just a few blocks from where we're sitting right now. This was not a one-off mistake or a clerical error. This was someone using a false name to explicitly break the law to the tune of over 40 problematic donations through Winrad over the course of more than a year. This is not one of those hard to find cases where someone tries to cover their tracks. This is clear as day. Anyone could tell you that Alex A is a pseudonym. That Alex A does not in fact reside at 428 Street Northeast because 428 Street Northeast is a defunct funeral home in a vacant building near Union Station. A building that has been vacant for over seven years. How did Winrad not catch any of this? Why aren't we investigating this clear pattern of fraud, of illegality, of corruption? What are House Republicans covering up? It's as clear as day. While we're actually here today, anyone watching today knows a hearing on quote preventing fraudulent donations without looking into Winrad is not a serious proceeding. If we as a committee are truly interested in combating fraudulent political donations, we would be undertaking a good faith effort to understand the problem and to discuss solutions. But Republicans are not interested in solutions. They're interested in a partisan witch hunt. Last week, Democrats on House Judiciary, on Judiciary, and on Oversight and Government Reform sent a letter to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton seeking information related to his investigations, if any, on Winrad. We set a deadline for a response. It was this past Monday, June 8. Attorney General Paxton ignored us. So now, Mr. Chairman, it's time this committee to start taking our duty to protect American voters, protect American elections seriously. Americans deserve to know what Winrad is hiding, what Republicans are hiding. It's time for us to draw a line in the sand to make clear that regardless of partisanship, no one is above the law. And with that, Mr. Chairman, pursuant to Clause 2K6 of Rule 11, I move that the committee subpoena Warren Kenneth Paxton, Jr., the Attorney General of Texas. I recognize the motion and hold it in abeyance until the end of the hearing. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back my time.