Han Dong says he hasn’t asked PMO to verify Chinese election interference allegations – National

Liberal MP Han Dong said Wednesday he has reached out to Canada’s security intelligence agency for more information on allegations he was part of a Chinese foreign interference network during the 2019 federal election.

But he also said he has not made a similar request to the prime minister’s office — despite Global News reporting that senior aides to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau were briefed by national security officials about the allegations against Dong three weeks before voters headed to the polls.

Asked why he has not reached out to senior PMO staff to verify the allegations, including Trudeau’s national security advisor Jody Thomas, Dong said he trusts his campaign.

“Because I know the truth,” he responded when pressed by reporters outside the House of Commons Wednesday, which marked the first time Dong has taken questions on the matter. “I know the truth because I know my campaign.”

Pressed again, he pointed to an independent panel’s findings that the results of the 2019 and 2021 elections were not influenced or compromised by attempted foreign interference.

“To me, that’s enough.”

Global News reported last month that three weeks before the 2019 federal election, national security officials allegedly gave an urgent, classified briefing to senior aides to Trudeau, warning them that one of their candidates was part of a Chinese foreign interference network.

According to sources, the candidate in question was Dong, then a former Ontario MPP whom Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) had started tracking in June of that year.

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Liberal MP allegedly tied to Chinese interference: sources

National security officials also allege that Dong, now a sitting MP re-elected in 2021, is one of at least 11 Toronto-area riding candidates allegedly supported by Beijing in the 2019 contest. Sources say the service also believes Dong is a witting affiliate in China’s election interference networks.

In late September, about 48 hours before the federal election nomination deadline, CSIS urged Trudeau’s team to rescind…