The Bureau withdrew a story about William Majcher published in September 2024 after it became evident that I had been the target of a sophisticated and persistent undercover operation since March 2024.
This operation appears to have been aimed at identifying my confidential sources related to PRC reports and feeding engineered information designed to introduce disinformation into The Bureau’s reporting regarding the ongoing Majcher foreign interference case.
In hindsight, I believe these actions align with those of well-motivated, incentivized actors with a clear agenda.
Consequently, I have promptly shared evidence of suspected infiltration from these sophisticated operations with the appropriate law enforcement and government authorities. As the founder of The Bureau, I am treating this incident as a formal complaint regarding the targeting of Canadian journalists for potential foreign interference.
I am currently consulting with legal and media protection advocates and will provide further comments as the investigation progresses.
As founder, I must emphasize that this incident appears to be the continuation of a pattern of serious and persistent threats against my reporting, which first emerged in 2020 after I published an in-depth story on China's United Front Work Department operations in Canada.
In the months that followed, I learned from CSIS and other experts that United Front groups in Vancouver—later connected to the RCMP's investigations into "Chinese police stations"—held a press conference aimed at discrediting my work and reputation.
A colleague shared photographs showing that a notorious PRC-connected organized crime suspect I had previously reported on, was parked outside this press conference. It was also brought to my attention that an individual linked to the Chinese Consulate in Vancouver and suspected organized crime and Chinese state actors targeted in RCMP and CSIS investigations, had reportedly made a threat against me outside this gathering.
All of this followed a related United Front effort to sponsor a community-funded lawsuit against my reporting.
As I outlined in my book Wilful Blindness (published in May 2021), my reporting and reputation have been persistently attacked in an organized manner by individuals confirmed to be involved in PRC threat networks in Canada. This includes groups tied to the United Front Work Department, the CCP foreign interference arm that has been implicated in political influence and interference investigations by both the FBI in the United States and CSIS in Canada.
Further incidents of concern include an official threat briefing I received from CSIS following the publication of my book. During this meeting, a CSIS officer warned me that PRC actors in Canada are dangerous.
They informed me that CSIS investigations had determined that CCP agents had been tasked with investigating my professional networks and my background, identifying my reporting sources, and determining whether I had any affiliations with groups that Beijing classifies as the “Five Poisons.” They were also assessing whether my reporting posed a threat to the Chinese Communist Party.
In June 2023, shortly after I was summoned to testify in Parliament regarding my knowledge of PRC threats to Canadian politicians (https://www.thebureau.news/p/opening-statement-for-testimony-on), two officers from an RCMP national security unit visited my home. They informed me that they had obtained a judicial authorization, known as a legal "duty to warn," notifying me of a credible threat to my safety related to my reporting on PRC matters.
It is believed the threat networks involved are associated with foreign actors, engaged in transnational repression activities, and employing Canadian proxies.
Thanks to everyone for your continued support with the launch of The Bureau, a new investigative platform probing matters including transnational repression and the growing threat this presents to private and public citizens in democratic nations.
https://www.thebureau.news/p/the-bureau-withdraws-majcher-story?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1444443&post_id=148617693&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=rd3ao&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
For more on the threat see this FBI statement.