I would like to turn our attention to one of the most troublesome areas of this investigation.

I speak of allegations concerning a plan hatched during the last election cycle by the

Chinese government and designed to pour illegal money into American political campaigns.

The plan had a goal.

The bi-access and influence and furtherance of Chinese government interests.

Beijing was quick to voice its outrage and to engage in a series of overt retaliatory

measures.

But not all of China's reactions were overt.

Secretly Beijing worked to prevent similar diplomatic surprises from occurring in the

future.

The committee believes that high-level Chinese government officials crafted a plan to increase

China's influence over the US political process.

Implementation of the plan has been handled by Chinese government officials and individuals

enlisted to assist in the effort.

Activities and furtherance of the plan have occurred both inside and outside of the United

States.

I'm Michael Isgov, Chief Investigative correspondent for Yahoo News.

And I'm Dan Clydeman, Editor-in-Chief of Yahoo News.

That was 1997 when Republican Senator Fred Thompson kicked off Senate hearings on the

last time a foreign government tried to interfere with the US presidential election.

It was the Chinese government, not the Russians, and it was the 1996 presidential election

between Bill Clinton and Bob Dole.

...