FBI Probes Chinese Exile, Including Work With Former Trump Aide Steve Bannon

 

The FBI is examining exiled Chinese businessman Guo Wengui and the money used to fund his media efforts in the U.S., including his work with Steve Bannon, a former senior adviser to President Trump, according to people familiar with the matter.

Federal Bureau of Investigation national security agents in recent months have asked people who know both men for information on Mr. Guo’s activities, including the source of funds of a media company linked to him that hired Mr. Bannon in 2018 as a consultant, the people said.

The FBI is reportedly investigating a Chinese businessman with close ties to Stephen Bannon, the former White House chief strategist and ex-head of Breitbart News.

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that an investigation into Guo Wengui, an exiled businessman currently living in the U.S. with citizenship in the United Arab Emirates, has been active for six months and is centered around Guo's activities in the U.S. including his media ventures, to which Bannon is connected.

Of interest to the FBI is the source of Guo's funding, according to the Journal, including funding that he used for a media company that in 2018 hired Bannon as a consultant following his exit from the White House and Breitbart, a right-wing news site. The probe's overall target and purpose was unclear, according to the Journal.

An associate of Bannon's characterized the pair's work as aimed at politically opposing the Chinese Communist Party.

“Mr. Bannon and Mr. Guo have worked together on fighting the [Chinese Communist Party] and also on setting up a media and technology distribution platform that breaks through the firewall directly to the Chinese people in China and across the globe," the associate said.