FIRST ON FOX: Kansas’s attorney general is asking the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate the funding sources behind an "environmental lawfare campaign" that he says has taken shape in recent years.
Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach alleged Monday that the Chinese government is bankrolling litigation in the United States that is designed to weaken the United States’ energy sector while boosting China’s, according to a letter obtained by Fox News Digital.
Energy Foundation China, a nonprofit based in San Francisco with a large presence in Beijing, appears to be funding some of the lawsuits, said Kobach, an elected Republican.
NEW STUDY EXPOSES GREEN ENERGY ORG'S TIES TO CCP INTERESTS WHILE UNDERMINING US
Chinese President Xi Jinping listens as Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, not pictured, speaks during their meeting at the Office of the Party Central Committee in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Monday, April 14. (AP/Minh Hoang)
"Not surprisingly, the EFC appears to support actions that align with China’s strategic interest in boosting alternative energy production systems in which China controls crucial supply chains for necessary minerals, batteries, solar panels, and other energy technologies," Kobach wrote.
Kobach added that the nonprofit has "close ties" to the Chinese Communist Party and that the DOJ should investigate for possible improper foreign influence over the U.S. economy.
Read the letter below.
Kobach’s letter follows the state attorney general testifying last month during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing about the same matter. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, led the hearing, called "Enter the Dragon—China and the Left’s Lawfare Against American Energy Dominance."
"Our energy sector is the engine of American prosperity, the lifeblood of our industrial power, our national security, and our geopolitical leverage," Cruz said during his opening statement. "If American energy is under attack, so is American security and American independence."
Fox News Digital reached out to the DOJ for comment.