Congresswoman Young Kim (Shady): Human Rights Holy Roller With Ethiopia in Her Crosshairs!

Congresswoman Young Kim (R-CA) is a South Korean-born congresswoman representing the 39th District of (Southern) California.

Kim was the District Representative/Director of Asian Affairs for Republican Congressman Ed Royce who retired in 2018 (more on him later).

In 2020, Kim was handpicked by Royce to replace him.

Since her election, Kim has been riding her human rights white horse trying to save humanity from its own bad self.

From February 18, 2021 to May 12, 2022, Kim has introduced more “human rights” resolution/bills than most members of Congress in their congressional lifetimes.

Kim sponsored 17 bills/resolutions in the 117th Congress in her very first term (2021-22). None of the 17 bills/resolutions passed.

On December 3, 2021, Kim introduced HR6140 “Sudan Democracy Act” with the aim of imposing sanctions on Sudanese officials. That resolution did NOT pass.

On July 28, 2021 Kim supported H.Res.547 “for Afghan women and girls as the Biden administration withdraws U.S. troops from the region and the Taliban expands its presence in the region.” That resolution did NOT pass.

On July 29, 2021, Kim introduced H.R.4785 (“Uyghur Policy Act of 2021) which requires appointment of Special Coordinator for Uyghur Issues, public diplomacy (propaganda) on behalf of Uyghurs in the Islamic world, access to detention facilities and release of Uyghur prisoners in China. That resolution did NOT pass.

On March 2, 2022, Kim became one of three co-sponsors of HR 6600 “Ethiopia Stabilization, Peace, and Democracy Act”. This resolution aims to impose crippling sanctions on Ethiopia and ultimately restore the terrorist TPLF to power. The resolution did NOT pass.

On March 7, 2022, Kim introduced H.R.6954 “DICTATOR Act of 2022”. This resolution directs the Secretary of State to provide Congress briefings and reports on the support of the People’s Republic of China for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. That resolution did NOT pass.

On March 31, 2022, Kim introduced H.R.7332 (North Korean Human Rights Reauthorization Act of 2022). This resolution requires appointment of a special envoy for North Korea, detailed reporting on North Korean prison conditions, appointed, intensification of  propaganda broadcasting into North Korea on Voice of America, intensify current 12 hour-a-day broadcasting to North Korea and related matters. That resolution did NOT pass.

Kim serves on the House Africa Subcommittee. Truth be told, Kim has introduced more human rights bills than African American Subcommittee chairwoman Karen Bass!

On the other hand, Kim’s major accomplishments for her constituents have been 2 resolutions  designating US Post Office buildings.

On February 7, 2022, Kim introduced H.R.6631 “to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 4770 Eureka Ave in Yorba Linda, California, as the ‘‘Cottle Centanni Post Office Building’’. That resolution did NOT pass.

On February 7, 2022, Kim introduced H.R.6630 “to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1400 N Kraemer Blvd. in Placentia, California, as the “PFC Jang Ho Kim Post Office Building”. That resolution did NOT pass.

In 2020, the population in Kim’s congressional district was 710,964. The number of people under the poverty line was 52,451.

In 2020, the percentage of people in Kim’s district living under the poverty line was as follows: African American 11.5%; Latino 11.0%; Asian American 5.5%; White 5.5%.

What has Kim done to help the people under the poverty line in her district?

Not a doggone thing!

Yet, Kim showboats her “human rights” efforts to save Ethiopians from themselves.

Kim Shady, the real Kim Shady!

Will the real Slim Shady, please stand up? Please stand up!”

That was, of course, Eminem.

Will the real Kim Shady, please stand up!?

Before Kim was elected to Congress and became a crusader for human rights in Ethiopia, she had some shady dealings with a Chinese citizen named Tian Wang who was scheming to  peddle influence in the U.S. government.

Kim received contributions from Wang who was running a “group called Chinese Americans for Trump and was well-connected to people and groups supported by the Chinese government.”

In 2018, Wang contributed $150K to Trump’s campaign and $3.7K to Kim’s unsuccessful congressional campaign.

Wang’s “political matchmaker during his influence peddling campaign was none other than Young Kim max-out donor and supporter, Shawn Steel.”

Shady Shawn Steel.

Steel is a top California Republican who spearheaded the recall of Governor Gray Davis in 2003.

Steel successfully got his wife Michelle Park Steel elected to Congress in California’s 48th congressional district in 2021.

Michelle is the second Korean American woman, after Kim Shady, to ever be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

In July 2020, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee demanded Kim return $14,700 in donations she received from Wang and Steel in connection with Chinese influence peddling campaign in the US.

Kim Shady also used the Pluvious Group for fundraising, an entity with a “history of money laundering and other shady practices.”

Pluvious was at the center of a money-laundering plot that “allowed the original donors to conceal their identities in filings and avoid exceeding campaign contribution limits.”

The million dollar questions is this: Given Kim’s history of shady dealings and active solicitation of campaign contributions from groups like Pluvious and manifestly unsavory individuals like Wang, it is likely that she also snagged thousands of dollars from supporters of the terrorist TPLF like Congressman Brad “Gotta Pay to Play” Sherman.”

How much money Kim received from supporters of the terrorist TPLF to co-sponsor HR 6600 remains to be seen.

The fact of the matter is that Kim cares as much about human rights in Ethiopia as helping the tens of thousands of people below the poverty line in her district. It is doubtful Kim can point out Ethiopia on the map let alone have genuine interest in Ethiopian affairs.

The Big Problem few are able to see: Egypt, Ed Royce, Kim Shady and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD)

In the grand scheme of things, Kim, as freshman congressperson, is inconsequential.

On the seniority scale, Kim is at the very bottom of the totem pole, ranking 394/430 members, excluding 6 nonvoting delegates.

What is concerning is the fact that Kim can do to damage Ethiopia’s cause in the GERD negotiations and discussions.

Is Kim former Congressman now Egypt lobbyist Edward Royce’s “sleeper agent” in the US House?

Ed Royce was a republican member of the United States House of Representatives from California from 1993 to 2019. He chaired the House Committee on Foreign Affairs from 2013 to 2019.

Royce had a reputation as “a dealmaker, crossing party lines to build bipartisan consensus and move legislation.”

Kim is a protege of Royce’s and was seen as a natural choice to run for his seat.

Kim was Royce’s congressional staffer for 21 years and before that in his state senate office.

Kim and Royce “are so close that Kim’s four now-grown children know him as “Uncle Ed”—he’d played with them as children, attended their graduations, and been at the weddings of her two eldest.”

Kim said Royce encouraged her to run and told her, “Nobody knows the district like you do.”  Within “24 hours of his announcement to retire”, Royce called Kim and told her, “I’m with you.”

After retiring in 2019, Royce, the former House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman “turned Egypt lobbyist leveraging his environmental credentials to try to convince his former colleagues about the alleged risks posed by Ethiopia’s massive hydroelectric dam on the Nile.”

In February 2018, Royce as chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee travelled to Egypt ostensibly to discuss terrorism and the security challenges Egypt faces with Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and Major General Abbas Kamel, then Acting Director of Egypt’s General Intelligence Service.

After retiring from Congress, Royce joined the lobbying and law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck and started lobbying for Egypt!

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck boasts it is the “No. 1 Lobbying Firm.”

On November 9, 2020, the first weekday after Joe Biden delivered his victory speech, Egypt’s ambassador to the United States, Motaz Zahran, signed the $65,000-a-month lobbying contract with Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck.

Signing the lobbying agreement with Egypt was Ed Royce.

Royce has been busier than a mosquito at a nudist beach advocating for Egypt’s superior rights to the Nile waters.

On January 28, 2021, Royce sent an email inviting members of Congress for a virtual briefing on an “Event on International Conservation Issues – GERD Briefing Feb. 1.” (Italics added.)

Royce tried to cover up his brazen lobbying for Egypt on the GERD by dishonestly characterizing it as an “international conservation issue.”

In the email, Royce tried to misdirect the attention of his former colleagues by recalling his role as “one of the original founders of the International Conservation Caucus on Capitol Hill.”

Lo and behold!

Three weeks later on February 21,2022, US State Department Spokesman Ned Price told reporters, “President Joe Biden’s administration would review policy on the 6GW GERD and would look to renew US efforts to mediate the long-running dispute between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt over the dam’s impact on the Blue Nile’s water flow.”

Ha! What a random coincidence!

The fact of the matter is that as of March 30, 2022, Royce and his firm continue to lobby for the Egyptian Government.

There are few questions that remain unanswered.

  1. Did Royce directly or indirectly lobby his protégé Kim to sign on HR 6600, not-so-affectionately known as “Impose Crippling Sanction on Ethiopia” act to retaliate against Ethiopia for not submitting to Egyptian demands to surrender her sovereign rights to the Nile waters?
  2. What is Kim’s position on the GERD as it relates to Egypt’s demands for exclusive use of Nile waters to the detriment of Ethiopia?
  3. Does Kim have plans to use her membership on the House African Subcommittee to introduce a bill which will impose a second crippling sanctions on Ethiopia to force it to surrender its sovereign rights to use Nile waters?
  4. Will Ethiopian American voters in Kim’s district demand accountability and transparency into Kim’s hostile legislative actions against Ethiopia?

Kim Shady and the midterm election

Kim is getting a run for her money in the 2022 midterm election from democrat Asif Mahmood in the newly drawn 40th Congressional District.

Mahmood, an internal medicine physician, has practiced for over two decades in Southern California and has a record of community service.

Mahmood is not a member of the lunatic fringe of the democratic party. He supports a pathway to immigration and aggressive policies to combat climate change.

As of May 18, 2022, Kim has raised a whopping $5,273,034, spent $2,944,079 and has cash on hand in the amount of $2,737,297.

As of May 18, 2022, Mahmood has raised $1,672,197, spent $396,768      and has cash on hand in the amount of $1,275,429.

A famous California politician once said, “Money is the mother’s milk of politics.”

In other words, money – that filthy lucre—is the life force and energy behind politics and elections.

As the saying goes, “money talks, bull**** walks.”

Mahmood is a long shot, but he may pull a surprise.

Truth be told, I don’t have a dog in the 40th congressional district race.

For me, it is a race between Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum.

Or as Shakespeare wrote in the Taming of the Shrew (Act 1, scene 1), “There’s small choice in rotten apples.”

I care not for a shady shrew sporting a Republican stripe.

I am done, done with democRATs and the democraTICK party!

Alas!

I shall sit back, put my feet on the table and a smile on my face, sip on my favorite brew and watch Mahmood’s crew duke it out with the shady shrew.

I laugh at Kim Shady’s assertion of moral authority to hector Ethiopia on human rights!