Merrick Garland defends ending China Initiative while announcing Chinese espionage charges

Attorney General Merrick Garland defended the Justice Department‘s decision to shut down the Trump-era China Initiative during a press conference announcing a host of criminal charges against Chinese intelligence officers and government agents.

The DOJ announced Monday that it had charged 13 people, including members of the security and intelligence apparatus of the People’s Republic of China, for “efforts to unlawfully exert influence in the United States for the benefit of the government of the PRC.”