I can’t understand why any American would want to spy on us on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party. What do they stand to gain? It must be some large amount of money.

But here’s the thing, this is our government and while they can be criticized, it’s not like they don’t have some sophisticated technology. Unless you’re James Bond, you’re not going to get away with spying on this country for the Chinese.

I would be willing to bet that anyone who works in the government and had dealings with top agencies or foreign countries is heavily monitored whether they know it or not.

Recently, two men were arrested and charged with what prosecutors claim is a “transnational repression scheme”. One of the men is a former DHS deportation officer and the other is a former DHS law enforcement agent.

There were three other men who were indicted as well who were captured back in March. All three of those men were of Chinese descent.

“We will defend the rights of people in the United States to engage in free speech and political expression, including views the PRC government wants to silence,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew G. Olsen, in a statement from the Department of Justice. “As charged, these individuals aided agents of a foreign government in seeking to suppress dissenting voices who have taken refuge here. The defendants include two sworn law enforcement officers who chose to forsake their oaths and violate the law. This indictment is the next step in holding all of these defendants responsible for their crimes.”

One of the men (Derrick Taylor) was allegedly hired by one of the Chinese men’s accomplices to gather personal information, including as flight records, passport details, and photos, regarding several Chinese dissidents residing in the United States. Two more DHS officers are accused of helping Taylor. These DHS connections reportedly stole the data from a private government database and gave it to Taylor without authorization. These details are said to have been used by the Chinese men at China’s request to harass and target these dissidents.

While being questioned by investigators, Taylor allegedly told a friend to suppress information from the FBI, and one of the men allegedly deleted text exchanges between him and Taylor.