Mike Baker

There's also a broader national security angle.

The U.S.

has spent years increasing scrutiny on Chinese influence operations, especially through cultural groups and business associations and diaspora organizations.

This story suggests those same social structures double as business networks or can double as business networks capable of moving capital quietly into sensitive or loosely governed sectors of the U.S.

economy.

Again, this is not about ordinary immigrants or legitimate businesses, but it is about how influence, profit, and regulatory blind spots can intersect in ways that policymakers didn't anticipate.

Oklahoma lawmakers are now scrambling to tighten licensing rules and shut down illegal grow operations.

Federal authorities are paying closer attention, and this case is likely to be studied as a cautionary tale about what happens when state-level policy decisions collide with global money and organized networks.

For now, the farms are still there, the money is still moving, and questions about who's really behind some of these operations, well, those questions still remain unresolved.

And that, my friends, is the PDB Afternoon Bulletin for Friday, the 2nd of January.

If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at pdbatthefirsttv.com.

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I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back over the weekend with the PDB Situation Report, because as you know, it is Friday.

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Until then...