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President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms may be facing an uphill battle to win Senate confirmation after the revelation that he failed to disclose an old appearance on a television station backed by the Chinese government.

The nominee, David Chipman, appeared on the China Global Television Network (CGTN) in December 2012 to talk about the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, which resulted in the deaths of 28 people. On the same day, 23 children were stabbed at a school in China’s Henan province, raising the prospect that China’s state media was seeking to use Newtown to distract Chinese citizens. Reuters noted at the time the incident in China “lit up the Internet — but barely registered with official state media.”

Chipman’s appearance on CGTN was first reported by Fox News. Chipman did not include the interview in disclosure forms he submitted to the Senate as part of the confirmation process, though the disclosures did list 16 pages of previous interviews and quotations in other media outlets.

Chipman has been up for

consideration in the Senate Judiciary Committee. However, he faces tough odds in the vote to win confirmation from the Senate, which is split 50-48 between Republicans and Democrats. Two independents who caucus with the Democrats give liberals a technical majority, including Maine Sen. Angus King, who has expressed reservations about Chipman’s nomination over the strong opposition he faces from gun rights groups.

Watch Chipman’s CGTN interview above via YouTube.

Tags: CGTN, China, david chipman