Bolduc Hires McConnell Staffer Who Lobbied for Chinese Communist Party Interests to Run His Campaign

Mitch McConnell and his vast network of corporate special interests just can’t stay away from New Hampshire.

WMUR reported today that Don Bolduc hired Rick Wiley, a long-time McConnell staffer who lobbied for Chinese Communist Party interests, to run his campaign for US Senate.

Wiley served as a senior advisor to Mitch McConnell’s National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) from 2014-2020. He also lobbied for ZTE, a Chinese state-owned telecom company that violated U.S. sanctions on Iran and North Korea and may still be under federal investigation for bribing foreign officials.

Bolduc is now the second candidate to have a prominent CCP-linked lobbyist join his campaign — Chuck Morse also hired Jim Merrill, a former CCP-linked lobbyist, to play a central role in his campaign. And Kevin Smith is openly courting McConnell, taking time out of his taxpayer-funded job to meet with Rick Scott – McConnell’s top lieutenant – and the NRSC in DC.

“Don Bolduc just took a page out of Chuck Morse's playbook and hired a former McConnell staffer who lobbied for Chinese Communist Party interests to run his campaign,” said NHDP Chair Ray Buckley. “The Republican Senate campaigns are run by McConnell corporate special interests, for McConnell corporate special interests. All three candidates have made clear their campaigns aren’t about New Hampshire — they’re about saddling up to Mitch McConnell and China-linked lobbyists.”

Like Wiley, Morse hired Jim Merrill — a registered lobbyist for, among others, a Chinese-owned client with close links to the Chinese government —to play a key role in his campaign for US Senate. Merrill’s clients include Terrafugia, a Chinese company whose CEO is a Xi Jinping ally who served on a Chinese Communist Party committee.