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4 GOP Senators Tell DOJ to Investigate Chinese Criminal Networks' Role in Illicit Cannabis, Hemp Activities

Ted Budd signed the senators’ request for a Justice Department investigation and opposed extending the delay of the forthcoming hemp-products ban.

4 GOP Senators Tell DOJ to Investigate Chinese Criminal Networks' Role in Illicit Cannabis, Hemp Activities
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This article1 analysis · Oct 2, 2026
tl;dr

Four Republican senators led by Tom Cotton asked Attorney General Todd Blanche to have the Justice Department investigate Chinese criminal networks in illicit cannabis and hemp markets. The senators cited federal cases and opposed delaying the forthcoming ban on intoxicating hemp products.

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Ted Budd R · NC · SEN
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Ted Budd
R · NC · SEN

North Carolina senator who signed the request for a Justice Department investigation

PRIMARY SUBJECT
Tom Cotton
R · AR · SEN

Arkansas senator who led the request for a Justice Department investigation

Cotton's version of this story ↗
Pete Ricketts
R · NE · SEN

Nebraska senator who signed the request for a Justice Department investigation

Ricketts's version of this story ↗
Susan M. Collins
R · ME · SEN

Maine senator who signed the request for a Justice Department investigation

Collins's version of this story ↗
Todd Blanche
R · Attorney General

Attorney General addressed by the senators’ letter

ALSO MENTIONED  Jeremiah LaRue, Siskiyou County sheriff quoted about alleged criminal activity in the region; Leah B. Foley, U.S. attorney quoted about a cannabis case in Massachusetts and Maine; Robert J. Troester, U.S. attorney quoted about an alleged cannabis case in Oklahoma

Part of a bigger story

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Four Senators Request DOJ Investigation of Chinese Role in Hemp and Cannabis

Four Republican senators, including Ted Budd, asked the Justice Department to investigate alleged Chinese criminal involvement in U.S. cannabis and hemp markets. Budd signed the request. Center outlets present the request as a straightforward news development and note the senators’ argument that closing the hemp loophole would help counter those networks; the other coverage stresses the impending ban’s timing and the political significance of the claims.

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