Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm reportedly held secret conversations with a top Chinese Communist Party energy official before President Biden tapped the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) in 2021.

(Video Credit: Fox News)

The multiple confabs happened just days before Biden made the announcement that he would use the oil reserves to bring down high gas prices.

According to Fox News, Americans for Public Trust (APT) obtained Granholm’s previously-undisclosed talks with China National Energy Administration Chairman Zhang Jianhua. They were revealed in internal Energy Department calendars and showed that the Biden administration allegedly discussed its plans to release oil from the SPR with China, our biggest enemy, before its public announcement.

Per the calendars, Granholm engaged in one-on-one conversations with Jianhua, a longstanding senior member of the Chinese Communist Party.

She reportedly spoke in one-on-one conversations with Jianhua on Nov. 19, 2021, and two days later on Nov. 21, 2021. The White House announced a release of 50 million barrels of oil from the SPR on Nov. 23, 2021, two days after those conversations. It was the largest release of reserves in US history at the time.

this is totally believable.
The DNC = CCP.

— Kevin Pinball (@KevinPinball) August 4, 2023

“Secretary Granholm’s multiple closed-door meetings with a CCP-connected energy official raise serious questions about the level of Chinese influence on the Biden administration’s energy agenda,” APT Executive Director Caitlin Sutherland noted to Fox News Digital in an interview.

“Instead of focusing on creating real energy independence for America, Granholm has been too busy parroting Chinese energy propaganda and insisting ‘we can all learn from what China is doing,’” Sutherland accused. “The public deserves to know the extent to which Chinese officials are attempting to infiltrate US energy policy and security.”

The Department of Energy claimed in a statement that the aforementioned deal was part of the agency’s ongoing efforts to combat climate change. They did not divulge what was actually discussed at the meeting.

“Solving the climate crisis means engaging with competitors and allies in clear and substantive discussions — especially among the nations emitting the most carbon pollution into the atmosphere,” a DOE spokesperson stated according to Fox News Digital. “We must all address the transnational challenge of climate change to our planet.”

This is beyond concerning. Yet another bad decision made by Jennifer Granholm.

This administration continues to put our adversaries’ interests and security above our own. https://t.co/FJEhGKMdl2

— Rep. John James (@RepJames) August 4, 2023

Fox News reported, “As part of its announcement in November 2021, the White House said it was releasing oil from US reserves in conjunction with ‘other major energy consuming nations including China.’ However, President Biden said in remarks after the announcement that China ‘may do more as well’ and Granholm told reporters during a press briefing that China ‘will make its own announcement.'”

Republican lawmakers have been ringing the alarm bells over China, claiming that instead of releasing oil stocks, the communist regime has instead been increasing its own reserves since Biden’s tapping of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in 2021. They contend that the SPR releases weakened national security and bolstered foreign adversaries’ “geopolitical leverage.”

“China ramped up its purchases of crude oil from Russia and the United States to boost its own reserves, even as oil prices surged and President Biden called for a coordinated release,” House Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and former GOP Rep. Fred Upton (R-ME) wrote to Granholm in 2022.

Sleeping With The Enemy

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm engaged in multiple conversations with the Chinese government’s top energy official days before the Biden administration announced it would tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to combat high gas prices in 2021. pic.twitter.com/POaIZXkM8z

— A Man Of Memes (@RickyDoggin) August 4, 2023

“As a result, China may now control the world’s largest stockpile of oil, with total crude inventories estimated at 950 million barrels,” they warned.

Conservatives have hammered the White House and the Department of Energy over allowing SPR sales to Chinese state-run energy companies. In July 2022, the White House asserted that it had no choice since it is legally required to sell SPR oil to the highest bidder.

Reuters previously reported that the Biden administration sold at least two million barrels of oil from our reserves to Unipec, an affiliate of the state-controlled China Petrochemical Corporation. Jianhua had served in a leadership role at the company for years when that occurred.

In September 2021, a 20-million-barrel SPR sale was awarded to eight companies. Two other sales of 950,000 barrels of oil also occurred in April 2022 and July 2022 according to Fox News.

Last month, Jennifer Granholm said the reserves probably won’t even be refilled until AFTER Biden’s term https://t.co/1q3SyU4sWc

— Jake Schneider (@jacobkschneider) August 3, 2023

“China is profiting from President Biden’s political abuse of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve,” Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member John Barrasso (R-WY) charged earlier this year. “Meanwhile, America has become more vulnerable to true energy and national security emergencies.”

“Overall, Biden has ordered the Department of Energy to release a total of about 260 million barrels of oil stored in the SPR since taking office to combat record fuel prices hitting American consumers. In late March 2022, the president announced a draw-down of a million barrels per day from the SPR after Russia invaded Ukraine, roiling global energy markets,” Fox News reported.

“The SPR’s level has fallen to about 346.8 million barrels of oil, the lowest level since August 1983, according to Energy Information Administration data released on July 28. The current level is also 43% lower than its level recorded days prior to the November 2021 release,” the media outlet added.

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