A new investigative report published this week from the Associated Press found that China has been able to forge ties in Utah that have led to the communist nation scoring public relations and legislative victories in the state and from its lawmakers.

The report found that the Chinese “appealed” to the lawmaker’s ties to the Mormon church to win favor with them that they later used to score wins in a variety of areas, including delaying legislation that took action against Chinese propaganda, canceling resolutions that condemned China, and promoted false positive images of China. The report said the Mormon church has “long dreamed of expanding in China.”

“Utah is an important foothold,” said Frank Montoya Jr., a retired FBI counterintelligence agent who lives in the state. “If the Chinese can succeed in Salt Lake City, they can also make it in New York and elsewhere.”

Lawmakers delayed the closing of Chinese-funded Confucius Institutes, which are propaganda entities, at state universities by one year.

A letter exchange coordinated by a Chinese teacher in Utah resulted in fourth-grade students getting correspondence from Chinese President Xi Jinping thanking them for cards the teacher had them send him. The incident was used by Chinese state media to portray Xi as a warm grandfather figure when he is actually a brutal dictator who has forced tens of thousands into concentration camps. Some state lawmakers gushed over the cards that Xi sent the children, the report noted.

China’s civilian spy agency, the Ministry of State Security (MSS), has also been focused on Utah, the report said, noting that there have been multiple people convicted of spying for China in the state.

The report said that groups of up to a couple of dozen Utah lawmakers have been taking trips to China every other year since 2007 and they make remarks while visiting that are later used by state media for propaganda.

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The report alleged that two men, Taowen Le, a Chinese professor who moved to the U.S. in the late 90s; and Dan Stephenson, the son of a former state senator and employee of a China-based consulting firm; were responsible for much of China’s increased activity in the state.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre blamed Republicans and their stance on gun control for the grade school shooting Monday that left three children and three adults dead.

The shooting at Covenant Christian school shocked Nashville, and was particularly unusual given that police said the shooter was a 28-year-old woman. Police also believe the woman was a former student.

The White House was quick to politicize the tragedy.

“How many more children have to be murdered before Republicans in Congress will step up and act to pass the assault weapons ban?” the press secretary asked during a Monday afternoon press conference. “Once again, the president calls on Congress to do something before another child is senselessly killed in a preventable act of gun violence.”

.@PressSec Karine Jean-Pierre on Nashville, TN school shooting: "We need to do something. Once again, the president calls on Congress to do something before another child is senselessly killed in a preventable act of gun violence. Again, we need to do something." pic.twitter.com/XEt8e5euS6

— CSPAN (@cspan) March 27, 2023

President Joe Biden has been briefed on the shooting and is actively talking with local leaders in Nashville, according to Jean-Pierre. Biden commented on the shooting during the Small Business Administration’s Women’s Business Summit Monday afternoon, calling on Congress to pass his gun control legislation.

“We have to do more to stop gun violence. It’s ripping our communities apart,” the president said. “We have to do more to protect our schools so they’re not turned into prisons.”

“I call on Congress again to pass my assault weapons ban,” he added.

An unidentified female, 28, killed at least three children and three adults Monday inside a Nashville Christian school before police fatally shot her, officials said.

The shooter was engaged by police around 10:27 a.m., 14 minutes after the first call was made to police, Nashville authorities said in a press conference.

“The police department response was swift,” a police official said at a press conference outside the school. “Officers entered the first story of the school and began clearing it. They heard shots coming from the second level and they went toward the gunfire. When the officers got to the second level, they saw a shooter, a female, who was firing. The officers engaged her, she was fatally shot by responding police officers. ”

The official said the shooter was “armed with two assault-type rifles and a handgun.”