A non-disclosure agreement (NDA) gave Democratic Michigan State Representative Elissa Slotkin access to confidential conversations between the state and a Chinese green energy corporation.
Through a public records request, Fox News Digital accessed an NDA signed by Slotkin with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) on January 11, 2022.
This agreement was revised on December 13, 2022, to include two previously undisclosed projects and to specify that it widely applied to any possible Development Project recognized as confidential.
Although the two specific projects are unknown, since they apply to any project considered confidential, the NDA consequently includes a proposed project from Gotion, a division of the Hefei, a China-based Gotion High-Tech, to manufacture an electric vehicle (EV) battery plant in Big Rapids, Michigan, outside Slotkin’s district.
According to additional documents, Gotion entered a confidentiality agreement with the MEDC in December 2021, one month before Slotkin signed her NDA. The company also signed a confidentiality agreement with the Big Rapids government in August 2022.
Former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Cella, the co-founder of the Michigan-China Economic and Security Review Group, told Fox News Digital in an interview that Elissa Slotkin’s decision to sign an NDA for this arrangement was reckless and showed a horrendous lack of prudential judgment.
Cella continued that Intel agencies previously warned elected officials that such deals are considered subnational incursions, influence operations, and national security threats, so knowing that Slotkin and her staff should not have touched this deal.
He added that Slotkin’s decision to sign an NDA potentially involving a project proposed by a Chinese government-tied company is highly irregular.
Slotkin’s previous assertion that she had never signed an NDA concerning Gotion was also contradicted by the NDA. In June, Fox News Digital reported that a Slotkin campaign spokesperson denied that the congresswoman had signed the NDA in her bid for the open Michigan Senate seat next year.
“As we have repeatedly pointed out, the Congresswoman did not sign an NDA with or related to Gotion or any Chinese company,” the spokesperson said at the time.
In a statement on Wednesday, a spokesperson for Slotkin doubled down, declaring the congresswoman Slotkin has never had any contact with Gotion, nor did she ever sign an NDA relating to that project.
“Any suggestion otherwise is patently false. In January 2022, Rep. Slotkin signed an agreement with the State of Michigan to discuss a new General Motors electric vehicle battery plant being built in her district,” they continued. “Any attempt to conflate these facts is just a dishonest political attack.”
The documents obtained this week by Fox News Digital show Slotkin’s deputy legislative director, Austin Girelli, signed an NDA with MEDC in September 2022. That NDA closely mirrors the one signed by Slotkin.
Despite the overwhelming backing of Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), and other state agencies, Gotion’s project is under greater scrutiny due to the company’s ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Gotion High-Tech is obligated under its articles of incorporation to engage in Party activities per the Communist Party of China Constitution.
According to FARA filings, Gotion also quietly registered earlier this year as a Chinese foreign principal.
As a result of the company’s close connection to the CCP apparatus, lawmakers, local leaders, and national security experts have called on officials to block the project’s development. They have also criticized the NDAs, including Slotkin’s, signed as part of the development process.
Michigan’s Senate Appropriations Committee voted 10-9 to approve $175 million in direct government assistance to Gotion to help develop the facility in April. Only Democrats on the panel voted in favor of the funding.
Gotion announced earlier this month that it had purchased 270 acres of land for the project in Green Charter Township, Michigan. Some purchased land is zoned for agriculture or residential use, while the majority is zoned for industrial use.
John Moolenaar, R-Mich., whose district the Gotion project was proposed for, told Fox News Digital that it’s best to have transparency when dealing with taxpayer dollars, especially when foreign interests are involved, especially companies affiliated with China and the Chinese Communist Party. “I’m a believer that these kinds of NDAs are problematic.”
“I’m a believer that these kinds of NDAs are problematic. I was not asked to sign an NDA,” he continued. “Whenever you have an investment in your district, your first response is that you’re excited to hear about a new investment that brings jobs. When I learned about Gotion and its affiliation with Gotion High-Tech based in China, it immediately set off red flags about our future in Michigan and our growing dependence on China rather than American ingenuity and American-based companies.”