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On July 13, 2021, the U.S. Senate
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation (Senate Committee)
released a 37-page investigative report, "Abuse and Misconduct at the Commerce Department." The
investigation began after whistleblowers reported a variety of
improper activities dating back to the mid-2000s involving abuses
of authority, mismanagement, and reprisal against Department employees.
Minority Staff conducted over 100 interviews and reviewed
thousands of documents supporting allegations from over two dozen
whistleblowers.
The report highlighted the targeting of individuals of Asian
descent, opening frivolous investigations without probable
cause, blocking the release of investigative files to the judicial
system and documents to the public's Freedom of Information Act
requests, and likely resulting in preventable violations of civil
liberties and other constitutional rights, as well as a gross abuse of
taxpayer funds, among other findings.
The report identified specifically Sherry Chen and Dr. Chunzai Wang who were
subjected to criminal investigations by a Department of Commerce unit,
without proper authority, and subsequent prosecutions by the Department
of Justice. Sherry Chen courageously testified about her
experience in the Congressional Roundtable “Researching while Chinese American: Ethnic
Profiling, Chinese American Scientists and a New American Brain Drain”
on June 30, 2021. The Sherry Chen Legal Defense Fund turned
over a whistleblower letter to the Senate Committee as part of the
investigation.
Sherry Chen and Dr. Chunzai Wang are not alone. The abuse and
misconduct occur at multiple levels over many years in the Department
of Commerce. The report further confirms the deep-rooted systemic
discrimintion faced by Asian American employees within our own federal
agencies, which was exacerbated by xenophobic and reckless profiling
policies and practices such as the "China Initiative" that
target Chinese American scientists and researchers in recent
years. The Senate Committee report comes on the heels of the
mistrial of Professor Anming Hu where federal
agents falsified information and made false accusations in the fog of
searching for a spy in Knoxville, Tennessee.
On July 14, 2021, APA Justice received a response from Mr. Jeremy Licht,
Deputy General Counsel Strategic Initiatives, Department of Commerce,
in response to the June 1, 2021 APA Justice letter to
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.
Both Congress and the Biden-Harris Administration now have the
responsibility to correct the wrongs in the Commerce Department
immediately, as well as taking action to improve transparency,
oversight, and accountability in federal agencies and to eliminate
racial profiling and anti-Asian discrimination in the American society.
Except for Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders,
the U.S. is a nation of immigrants. We, including Asian
Americans, all belong to this nation in the pursuit of justice,
fairness, and equality.
Additional APA Justice comments on the Senate Committee report are
posted at https://www.apajustice.org/.
They will be updated with new developments as APA Justice continues to raise
awareness and mobilize the communities and the American public about
the human and scientific costs of racial profiling.
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