Chew is an odd person to push back against claims by Republicans — and, increasingly, some Democrats — that TikTok is inextricably linked to the CCP. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Chew, while working as a venture capitalist, was one of the first investors in ByteDance. As a Chinese company, ByteDance is subject to a Chinese law that “requires companies to give the government any personal data relevant to the country’s national security,” per the AP. In fact, Chew briefly served as the CFO of ByteDance before “he and the founder decided he would be better off running TikTok,” the Journal reported. The Chinese government itself actually “has taken a stake and a board seat in TikTok owner ByteDance’s key Chinese entity, Beijing ByteDance Technology,” according to Reuters.

But Chew is rolling into the hearing with friends in high places. In recent months, TikTok has brought on SKDK, which Politico calls “the most well-connected Democratic firm in Washington with former top employees in senior and mid-level roles in the Biden administration.” TikTok has spent over $10 million on its lobbying efforts in recent years, and its SKDK hiring is one of its latest moves. One of its founding partners, Anita Dunn, has been working in and out of senior roles in the Biden administration since its beginning — and favorable rhetoric about Chinese communists from the “D” in “SKDK” raised so many eyebrows in the past that it forced her out of the Obama administration.

[I doubt that Congress will take any meaningful action against either TikTok or its sister platform, WeChat, which really gives Beijing hooks into its users. If they do, I highly doubt that Biden will sign such a bill, especially given Biden Inc business interests in China. That’s the friend that matters most in this case. — Ed]