Posted on July 25, 2013
Yesterday Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) released a series of letters to executive branch officials regarding the EB-5 visa program, many of which directly relate to Terry McAuliffe’s GreenTech.
Having read the letters, the questions for McAuliffe are clear.
Was Terry McAuliffe aware of a hold on 21 EB-5 visas for Fraud/National Security concerns?
Was he aware that an individual employed by a company connected to Chinese intelligence was attempting to obtain a visa through GreenTech?
Will Terry McAuliffe detail any and all contact he had with Director Mayorkas, Secretary Napolitano, or any other high ranking government officials about approving visas for GreenTech’s investors?
We highly suggest you read the Grassley Letters for yourself, but we’ll walk you through the highlights.
In a letter dated July 24, 2013 to the chairman and ranking members of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Sen. Grassley wrote: “As Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee, it is my duty to conduct oversight over immigration and visa policies. Therefore, I have requested more information from Director Mayorkas about his involvement in the EB-5 Regional Center program, including the SLS Regional Center application in Las Vegas and the case pertaining to GreenTech and Gulf Coast Funds Management.”
In a July 24th letter to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Alejandro Mayorkas, Sen. Grassley references a March 12th, 2013 email from USCIS staff to Mayorkas that refers to Gulf Coast Funds Management as the “GreenTech Regional Center” that “the Automotive Partnership NCE has 21 related pending I-526 cases. There is a Fraud/National Security hold on all 21 of these cases.”
In a July 23rd letter to FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, Sen Grassley writes that he has “obtained e-mails which indicate that one of the investors in Gulf Coast is a vice president of Huawei Technologies, whose connections to Chinese intelligence have been documented by the House Intelligence Committee.”
In a July 23rd letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Sen. Grassley references an email between USCIS staff indicating how “well connected” Gulf Coast is “from a political standpoint” stating:
“The Principal is the brother of former First Lady and Senator and current Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. The Chairman of Greentech Automotive is Terence (Terry) McAuliffe who has worked for the DNC and both Clinton Presidential Campaigns. There is a long history with these cases which included an inquiry from Terry McAuliffe to the Secretary of Homeland Security when USCIS denied an amendment for Gulf Coast Funds Management, LLC a few years back. Needless to say, a lot of folks were involved with that inquiry.”
A July 18th letter to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Alejandro Mayorkas, who is now being investigated by the Inspector General, lists a series of questions for Mayorkas that focus directly on GreenTech. Included among those questions, “did you ever personally play any role in the approval of Gulf Coast or the Virginia Center for regional center status, or of any visa related to investments in Gulf Coast or the Virginia Center?”
The findings in these letters and the questions raised by Senator Grassley to high ranking Obama Administration officials regarding Terry McAuliffe’s GreenTech significantly raise the level of scrutiny on McAuliffe’s use of the EB-5 visa program.
BACKGROUND
Gulf Coast Handles GreenTech’s EB-5 Funding
“GreenTech Is Currently The Only Project For Which [Gulf Coast] Is Handling EB-5 Funds.” “Gulf Coast Funds Management was incorporated in Aug. 2008, and serves as the EB-5 regional center for Louisiana and Mississippi. [Gulf Coast Funds Management president Taylor] Beery said GreenTech is currently the only project for which it is handling EB-5 funds.” (Clay Chandler, “GreenTech Largest Project To Depend On EB-5: Experts Not Sure Investors Will Be Interested In A Hybrid Vehicle Plant In Mississippi,” Mississippi Business Journal, 10/19/09)
Gulf Coast Funds Management Website Currently Lists “GreenTech Automotive” As Their “Current Project.” “For more information about our current project, GreenTech Automotive, please visit their website…” (Gulf Coast Funds Management Website, www.gulfcoastfunds.com/portfoliocompanies/, Accessed 7/23/13)
According To Gulf Coast Funds Management’s Form I-924A Filed With United States Customs And Immigration Services, GreenTech Is Gulf Coasts Only Client. “Provide the following information for each job creating commercial enterprise located within the geographic scope of your regional center that has received EB-5 investor capital: GreenTech Automotive Partnership…” (“Form I-924A, Supplement To Form I-924,” United States Customs And Immigration Services, 12/29/12)
http://www.cuccinelli.com/grassley-letters/