For instance, in a May 20, 2014, email to four people—including Comer and his chief of staff—an official with the donor’s company wrote that the donor had “confirmed that he has some seed being sent directly to your office from China.” The official added that Comer’s office should send the hemp seeds directly to their academic liaison at MSU—copied on the email—who “agreed to test them.”
The email concluded, “I need to keep this between the four of us.”
Comer did not reply to the email.
Yep .. can’t say i’m in the slightest bit surprised
The Daily Beast has obtained emails and other documents showing that when Comer was running for governor of Kentucky, he himself was involved in a failed Chinese business deal. It involved importing Chinese hemp seeds through Comer’s office—he was Kentucky’s agriculture commissionerat the time—to benefit a campaign donor’s company that Comer had fast-tracked for his industrial hemp pilot program.
The documents—which The Daily Beast obtained after the Kentucky government released them to a third party in response to open records requests—contain a stunning revelation: While the emails show the involved parties clearly intended to import only legal hemp, two rounds of tests revealed the plants were essentially Chinese pot, containing illegally high levels of THC, the psychoactive compound that gives marijuana users a high.
The records chalk up the error to the decision to order seeds that “do not have good breeder documentation,” warning that the parties may “run into this issue again.” Emails show an intent to destroy the plants after the second test. If the plants were destroyed, however, it was not documented in the thousands of emails and attachments that the Kentucky Department of Agriculture (KDA) and Murray State University (MSU) produced in response to the open records requests. Records show Comer’s office wanted the KDA to oversee the proposed eradication but the trail at that point went cold—there appears to be no record of destruction or confirmation that state or federal law enforcement ever learned of the illegal plants. No one has spoken of these events publicly.
After the matter was resolved, Comer’s office sent a memo with his seal to program participants advising on how to handle law enforcement inquiries.
“There is nothing criminal occurring with the projects,” the memo said. “The program is in compliance with both state and federal regulations; there is nothing to hide.”
One bullet point was written in bold. It read: “However, if a request to collect industrial hemp material for a testing sample is made[,] refer law enforcement to contact KDA and do NOT allow the sample to be collected.” The memo suggested contacting the deputy commissioner, noting, “Without a court order, or warrant, you are under no obligation to allow the collection of a testing sample.”
There’s plenty more at
https://au.news.yahoo.com/james-comer-helped-donor-chinese-011623512.html
