As one of her first acts in office, Donald Trump’s new US Attorney General Pam Bondi shut down a years-long operation to combat influence campaigns from China and other countries – an initiative launched under the first Trump administration.
Bondi’s decision marks a sharp departure from the gradual, years-long shift of the Justice Department’s focus on non-traditional collectors of intelligence – a group that has included Chinese scientists, business professionals and diaspora leaders.
Without further indication of which way the department’s spotlight will swing, the change has prompted differing reactions: some are concerned the decision may open the doors wide for foreign meddling, while others, including those who have criticised the department for disproportionate and racially motivated targeting, are quietly breathing a sigh of relief – however temporary.
The initiative was cancelled by Joe Biden’s administration in 2022 after three years, following criticism that it resulted in racial profiling, failed prosecutions and derailed careers and scientific collaboration over minor infractions, such as paperwork errors, that posed no genuine national security threat.
