Verdict with Ted Cruz - May 12, 2026


BONUS POD： Beijing in America's Backyard： a SoCal Mayor & an Operative Targeting a U.S. Lawmaker’s Aide


Episode Stats


Length

12 minutes

Words per minute

150.75

Word count

1,870

Sentence count

114

Harmful content

Misogyny

1

sentences flagged

Toxicity

3

sentences flagged

Hate speech

4

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

A California mayor resigns after agreeing to plead guilty to acting as an agent for the Communist Chinese Party. This happening as we move to story which is now China making a full court press to infiltrate the very officials that are investigating Beijing s influence in America.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:00:02.700 Guaranteed human. 1.00
00:00:06.080 And then I said, yeah, he's a dumb guy. 1.00
00:00:07.880 And then I said, he's a Democrat. 0.99
00:00:09.060 And I don't know if people are going to like that term or not. 1.00
00:00:11.900 It maybe catches on and maybe it doesn't, but it's true.
00:00:15.120 Their policies are insane and they would drive our country into ruin.
00:00:19.760 And we've got to do great in the midterms.
00:00:21.960 And if we don't, they will do everything they can to destroy our country.
00:00:25.640 There's something wrong with them.
00:00:26.720 You're listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson.
00:00:31.060 Good Tuesday morning. Nice to have you with us on the 47 Morning Update.
00:00:34.340 And we've got two major stories for you.
00:00:36.440 First up, a California mayor right outside of L.A. resigning after agreeing to plead guilty to acting as an agent for the Communist Chinese Party.
00:00:47.700 This happening as we move to story number two, which is now China making a full-court press to infiltrate the very Washington officials that are investigating Beijing's influence in America, offering thousands of dollars.
00:01:04.600 It's the 47 Morning Update, and it starts right now.
00:01:08.200 Story number one.
00:01:09.240 We have two very interesting stories that we're going to start off with today, and a lot of it deals with China and just how much they're trying to infiltrate and being successful at it in this country, possibly stealing major national security secrets and government information, as well as influencing the towns that many of you are living in.
00:01:29.900 Perfect example of this is what we've just learned about a celebrated Democrat, a female California mayor, is now admitted to being a secret spy for China.
00:01:41.960 And she looks very different to her photoshopped original images, which is part of the story.
00:01:48.260 Now, the mayor of the wealthy Southern California city has since resigned after admitting she secretly acted as an agent for the Chinese government,
00:01:57.560 according to the federal plea agreement that was unsealed on Monday.
00:02:02.160 The former Arcadia mayor, just outside of L.A., her name was Wang.
00:02:07.500 She's 58, and she agreed to plead guilty to felony charge of acting as an illegal foreign agent
00:02:14.420 for the People's Republic of China and helping push pro-Beijing propaganda inside the U.S.
00:02:22.520 Now, you may ask yourself, why would they want a random mayor?
00:02:26.500 Well, let's be clear, China wasn't getting a random mayor.
00:02:29.880 They were getting a mayor of a very wealthy suburb of L.A., and that is exactly how Xi
00:02:35.600 could help push pro-Beijing propaganda, not only inside the U.S., but also with those
00:02:41.100 that have so much influence over our culture in Los Angeles.
00:02:45.180 Now, the interesting part about the crime that she's been charged with is it carries
00:02:49.580 a sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison.
00:02:52.780 The stunning case prompted immediate fallout in Arcadia, where city officials confirmed Wang stepped down from both the city council and the mayor's office on Monday.
00:03:03.360 Federal prosecutors alleged Wang spent years, let me say that again, years working under the direction of Chinese government officials before rising into elected office in Los Angeles County.
00:03:15.620 They also claimed she used a Chinese language news website to distribute propaganda favorable to Beijing while secretly coordinating with officials tied to the Chinese Communist Party.
00:03:28.940 This wasn't a low-level operation.
00:03:31.400 This was full influence on the Communist Party in China.
00:03:35.660 Authorities described the website as a fake news platform specifically targeting Chinese Americans.
00:03:42.460 And that's where they find many of their spies.
00:03:45.620 Now, the case has also triggered intense scrutiny of Wang's carefully crafted public image. 0.76
00:03:52.080 Again, China plays at a different level.
00:03:54.400 They've gone pro is the best way I can describe it.
00:03:57.520 Campaign photos and promotional images used during her political rise depicted Wang in heavily polished and retouched portraits that projected a glamorous and approachable persona to the voters.
00:04:10.920 I'll go back to the core point here.
00:04:12.660 China has gone pro in influencing America.
00:04:17.980 Now, the unedited public images reveal a stark contrast to the stylized campaign photographs
00:04:25.020 that once appeared across city political materials and social media.
00:04:29.620 Her dramatic downfall came just hours after the city of Arcadia announced Wang's resignation 0.92
00:04:35.160 from the city council and her departure as the mayor.
00:04:38.580 As of May 11, 2016, Wang resigned from the Arcadia City Council, vacating her position as mayor, the city said, in a simple statement posted online.
00:04:49.160 Now, in its next meeting, the city council says they will select a new mayor and a mayor pro tem from among the remaining council members
00:04:56.180 and will begin discussing how Arcadia's District 3 will be represented until next year's election cycle in November.
00:05:03.760 Wang was elected to the Arcadia City Council in 2022 and later elevated to mayor through
00:05:09.980 the city's rotating leadership system.
00:05:12.700 According to the Department of Justice, however, Wang's ties to Chinese officials stretched
00:05:18.220 back well before she ever took office, which is exactly how they have so much influence
00:05:24.220 in America right now.
00:05:25.780 Federal authorities say that from late 2020 through 2022, Wang worked alongside her then-fiancee under the direction and control of officials tied to the Chinese government.
00:05:39.540 Together, prosecutors say they operated the website called U.S. News Center, which presented itself as a legitimate Chinese-American news outlet,
00:05:48.600 while allegedly serving as nothing more than a propaganda vehicle for Beijing,
00:05:53.600 specifically to have major influence in the U.S.
00:05:56.960 According to the court filings, Chinese officials sent Wang's articles
00:06:01.040 and directives through the encrypted messaging app WeChat,
00:06:05.520 instructing her and others to publish content that would be favorable to the Chinese Communist Party.
00:06:11.680 One of the most explosive examples outlined in the plea agreement involved propaganda
00:06:16.520 denying allegations of genocide and forced labor in China.
00:06:21.880 On June 10th, 2021, a Chinese government official also allegedly sent Wang a pre-written article.
00:06:28.140 It was titled, China's Stance on the, of course, Forced Labor Issue.
00:06:34.320 Now, there is no genocide it started with.
00:06:36.640 There is no such thing as forced labor in any production activity, including cotton production.
00:06:41.980 spreading such rumor as to defame China
00:06:45.100 and destroy the safety and stability
00:06:47.300 the message read according to prosecutors
00:06:49.300 now we all know that there are many people
00:06:51.860 that are actually yes slaves and slave labor in China 1.00
00:06:55.520 like the Uyghurs which is a huge problem for China 0.98
00:06:59.180 because the world knows that many of them are enslaved
00:07:02.220 against their will and are being abused as we speak
00:07:06.400 now the court document also says that Wang
00:07:09.020 immediately reposted the Chinese Communist Party propaganda to her website literally within minutes
00:07:14.800 and then immediately sent the official link proving that it had been published in America.
00:07:20.380 So fast. Thank you, everyone. The official responded. Authorities say Wang repeatedly
00:07:26.000 reported analytics and audience engagement data back to Chinese officials after publishing the
00:07:32.080 propaganda articles for years in the U.S. In one August 2021 exchange signed in the plea agreement,
00:07:38.360 Wang sent screenshots showing an article
00:07:40.580 had to receive more than 15,000 views
00:07:43.380 after officials requested edits to the story
00:07:46.040 saying great
00:07:47.520 the official responded according to the prosecutors
00:07:49.960 thank you leader
00:07:51.340 Wang replied
00:07:52.680 now federal prosecutors say Wang never disclosed
00:07:55.560 that the Chinese government was directing the content
00:07:58.200 appearing on her website
00:08:00.640 the case became even more alarming to investigators
00:08:03.280 because Wang ultimately ascended into public office
00:08:06.980 Now, this isn't the only story that should be shocking you right now,
00:08:10.660 which brings me to part two of what I was saying about just how concerned you should be about what's happening with China.
00:08:17.600 We now know from a New York Times report that their headline pretty much says it all.
00:08:23.820 Quote, he offered a lawmaker's aid, quick cash.
00:08:29.320 Was he spying for China?
00:08:30.660 a staff member on the House China Committee was promised $10,000 for U.S. policy insights
00:08:37.640 on issues like Venezuela and rare earth minerals.
00:08:42.740 When a man identifying himself as Chris Chen reached out this winter
00:08:47.400 to an aide on the House Committee focused on threats from China,
00:08:51.600 he came armed with a lucrative offer.
00:08:54.560 The staff member Mr. Chen proposed could earn $10,000 or more
00:08:58.180 By barely lifting a finger, all he would need to do is agree to phone calls every other week to share information about the committee's work and U.S. foreign policy about China.
00:09:11.620 Insights into U.S. trade or national security issues, including the Trump administration's plan for Venezuela in the aftermath of the January military operation there, would be especially valuable, Mr. Chen said.
00:09:25.480 To sweeten the pot, Mr. Chin reportedly promised to send the aide $2,000 up front.
00:09:30.720 The offer seemed too good to be true.
00:09:33.180 Instead of quietly accepting the deal, the aide, whose identity the New York Times agreed to withhold
00:09:39.240 because he works on sensitive policy issues related to China,
00:09:43.300 reported to his bosses on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.
00:09:48.040 The panel quickly concluded Mr. Chin was not the Singapore-based business consultant he claimed to be.
00:09:53.940 but instead likely a Chinese intelligence officer or contractor seeking a new recruit.
00:10:01.200 By framing the initial offer as a quote trial period we learn Mr. Chang dangled the expectation
00:10:07.760 of a longer relationship obviously with more payments to come. It's a common recruitment
00:10:13.180 offer to hook up spies with real cash for those that are willing to just drop a little information.
00:10:20.600 Now, rather than cut off contact, the committee's Republican majority staff agreed to keep talking to Mr. Chen.
00:10:27.060 They recorded a series of calls this winter to learn more about Mr. Chen's tactics, as well as his interests.
00:10:34.400 Transcripts of those calls, which the committee shared with the Times alongside some of the recorded audio,
00:10:40.140 depict a determined and at times impatient individual eager to earn the trust of his mark
00:10:49.360 and get down to business meaning having results for the Chinese Communist Party. Mr. Chen makes
00:10:56.680 holiday greetings with elaborate questions about manufacturing for example in Vietnam
00:11:01.340 and Mexico as well as the future of Venezuela's oil industry. Now what's truly incredible about
00:11:08.360 this story is the fact that the outreach by Mr. Chin to an aide on the very committee that's
00:11:15.600 responsible for investigating Chinese national security threats appears to provide an unusually
00:11:21.860 vivid portrait of how Beijing spy services seeks to gain access to sensitive information
00:11:29.360 from within the corridors of the power in Washington. We also know about Chinese spies
00:11:35.820 that are sleeping with, well, former members of Congress
00:11:38.520 while they were in Congress.
00:11:40.360 You may remember the guy from California
00:11:42.760 that was, well, sleeping with Fang Fang, the Chinese spy.
00:11:47.500 We also found out there was another Chinese spy
00:11:49.780 that for years, actually decades,
00:11:52.140 was driving around a top Democratic senator.
00:11:55.080 So if you think this is a one-off, it's not.
00:11:57.720 The scary part is right now there's no telling
00:11:59.940 how many people are willing to take money from China
00:12:02.600 to sell out the United States of America within our government all over the country.
00:12:08.320 Thank you for listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson.
00:12:12.740 Please make sure you hit subscribe wherever you're listening to this podcast right now.
00:12:18.020 And for more in-depth news, also subscribe to the Ben Ferguson podcast,
00:12:22.460 and we will see you back here tomorrow.