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‘Deep ties to the CCP’: Meet the vaping lobbyist ramping up pressure on Trump to save ‘illicit’ vape industry

FIRST ON FOX: A top vaping lobbyist, whose group worked closely with the Trump campaign last year and is now ramping up pressure on the Trump administration to «uphold their promise to save the flavored vaping industry,» has extensive ties to the Chinese Communist Party, a Fox News Digital review found.
Tony Abboud, the Illinois-based executive director of the Vapor Technology Association, made several smaller donations to pro-Trump GOP Senate candidates ahead of the 2024 election and met with then-candidate Donald Trump weeks before the election in a push to protect the vaping industry.
However, his past ties to the Democratic Party and CCP are setting off alarm bells with a political operative close to the Trump administration and a top Republican Congressional leadership aide as Abboud’s group ramps up pressure on the Trump administration and lobbies several states to oppose directory bills, which would crack down on Chinese vape companies.
«Tony Abboud and Vapor Technology Association have deep ties to the CCP and Never-Trumpers,» a person close to the Trump administration told Fox News Digital. «This goes against everything President Trump stands for, which is loyalty and reining in CCP influence, especially when it comes to illicit drugs pouring across the border.»
21,000% SPIKE IN MA VAPE SEIZURES THROWS CIGARETTE BAN INTO QUESTION, EX-ATF OFFICIAL SAYS
Tony Abboud and other members of the Global Vape Alliance toast each other at 2023 InterTabac trade show in Germany (Left) and (Right) Tony Abboud and then-presidential candidate Donald Trump pose for photo after a private meeting weeks before the 2024 election. (Global Vape Alliance/Vapor Technology Association X screenshot)
Abboud, who previously donated thousands between Obama’s Senate campaign and failed House campaign, among other Democrats, and his vaping group have a close relationship with the Electronic Cigarette Industry Committee of the China Electronics Chamber of Commerce (ECCC), an entity of the CCP.
Abboud’s VTA and the ECCC previously had an informal relationship but officially inked an official partnership together in late 2023, forming the Global Vape Alliance, which includes the UK Vaping Industry Association and the Independent European Vape Alliance. This alliance led to cooperation between the different entities, which entails sharing «information and strategies for best practices to educate and guide member companies on existing laws, regulations and industry standards.»
«The Alliance will share strategies for the promotion of the healthy development of the global vaping industry, and as a unified voice for the industry, will look to empower their member companies by promoting the sophistication, professionalism, and importance of the industry,» the declaration continued.
«VTA–like Temu, Shein, and TikTok–is well known for putting the interests of Chinese companies ahead of Americans,» a top Republican Congressional leadership aide warned in a statement to Fox News Digital. «No Hill Republicans are take their lobbying seriously and they should be ashamed for lobbying for interests connected to the Chinese Communist Party. American kids deserve a lot better.»
However, a senior adviser to the 2024 Trump campaign dismissed criticism of the group and Abboud, telling Fox News Digital that the «idea that VTA is an anti-Trump group is downright dishonest and utterly laughable.»
«Not only did they support President Trump’s re-election financially, but they also worked closely with the Trump campaign on a get-out-the-vote program targeting pro-vaping voters in support of the President in all the battleground states,» the former senior adviser said. «Their GOTV operation was so robust that it didn’t just extend to the President himself, but it was also used to support Trump-endorsed MAGA Senate candidates like Bernie Moreno in Ohio.»

President Donald Trump has repeatedly defended national security advisor Mike Waltz amid fallout over the Signal group chat. (Donald Trump 2024 campaign)
The ECCC, which partners with Abboud’s group, was established in Shenzhen, China, in January 2017 and operates under the China Electronics Chamber of Commerce (CECC), which is registered with the CCP’s Ministry of Civil Affairs of P. R. China.
A Fox News Digital review found that some of the top leaders of the CECC are former high-ranking members of the CCP, which includes a former member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, a former Vice Premier of the State Council, and a former vice chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the «key mechanism for multi-party cooperation and political consultation» under the leadership of the CCP, according to the CPPCC website.
FIVE-FIGURE AD BUY URGES STATES TO CRACK DOWN AS CHINA FLOODS MARKET WITH ILLICIT VAPES: ‘TRUMP WAS RIGHT’
As the executive director of VTA, Abboud has met with Ao Weinuo, the Secretary-General of the ECCC, several times over the years and is featured in several photos with Abboud.
In a batch of photos from the 2023 InterTabac trade show in Germany, which is where the Global Vape Alliance was officially announced, Weinuo and Abboud posed together for several photographs, including one where the pair and a couple other guys from the GVA toasted each other with their drinks. During the meeting portion of the event, Weinuo and Abboud were also on the same panel that appeared to be going after the Biden administration’s FDA for feeding a «false narrative.»
That same year, Weinuo and the ECCC members participated in a team-building outing with the theme of «Seeking Red Footprints and Drawing Strength for Progress.» In the background of the photo, which included Abboud’s business partner, the hammer and sickle CCP emblem was visible.
In a promotional video that ECCC posted on Tencent in 2021, ECCC emphasized their goals for Chinese domination and price control in the vaping market, saying, «China has the pricing power» and «influence,» according to English subtitles provided by ECCC.

Weinuo and the ECCC members participated in a team-building outing with the theme of «Seeking Red Footprints and Drawing Strength for Progress.» (Electronic Cigarette Industry Committee of the China Electronics Chamber of Commerce (ECCC).)
When pressed for comment on VTA’s ties to China and the CCP, Abboud did not address them and instead talked about how he was a «former Democrat who became a Republican because of President Trump» and that «Joe Biden spent 4 years attempting to shut down and bankrupt American vape companies across the country and President Trump is the only person we trust to reverse Biden’s anti-vaping policies and save our industry.»
The political operative close to the Trump administration pushed back, pointing to a Linkedin post from Abboud’s group, which showed Abboud networking with Democrats, including then-DNC Chair Jaime Harrison, at the 2024 DNC Convention. The post said that VTA sponsored events for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Choose Atlanta and the Democratic Party of Virginia.
«I’m even more proud that VTA mobilized 360,000 voters to help overwhelmingly return President Trump to the White House because we know that after years of failed Democratic leadership, he is the champion our industry desperately needs,» continued Abboud, who along with VTA, also attended the RNC Convention and moderated a fireside chat. «The brazen attempts to distort our fight to save this industry are nothing more than coordinated attacks from competitors in the tobacco industry who are working with radical leftwingers like Letitia James and would stand to benefit financially from destroying American vape companies nationwide.»
«That would ultimately mean the loss of billions of U.S. tax revenue, hundreds of thousands of American jobs, and tens of thousands of small businesses across this great country,» he concluded.
In December 2023, Abboud traveled to China and participated in ECCC’s first «International Key Buyers Exchange Meeting» in Shenzhen, which included Weinuo as one of the leaders, according to photos reviewed by Fox News Digital.
According to a press release, «The special committee gave full play to its international influence and ‘brought in’ high-quality overseas wholesalers and brand owners, aiming to connect member companies with overseas resources and channels, and help Chinese e-cigarette products sell better in the international market.»
Abboud would then partner with Weinuo and ECCC a few months later in February 2024 at the Total Product Expo in Las Vegas. The expo was aimed at helping China gain greater access to the U.S. market and attracted more than 600 companies from around the world, including more than 100 exhibitors from China. A press release highlighting the event shows several photos of Abboud and Weinuo together as they hosted an after-party for the crowded event.

Tony Abboud (second from left) poses with Ao Weinuo (center), the Secretary-General of the ECCC, and others at Total Product Expo in Las Vegas in February 2024. (Electronic Cigarette Industry Committee of the China Electronics Chamber of Commerce (ECCC).)
A person familiar with the inner workings of Abboud’s VTA downplayed concerns about the group’s ties to China and the CCP, telling Fox News Digital that «Every tobacco company in the industry has their own manufacturing in China» and that the «biggest tobacco companies also have joint ventures directly with the Chinese tobacco monopoly.» The person went on to emphasize that the Global Vape Alliance is engaged «against the black market» and is focusing «its joint efforts on combating the illegal trade in e-cigarettes,» among other initiatives.
In September 2024, Weinuo was invited to deliver remarks on behalf of ECCC at the New Tobacco (E-cigarette) Forum at the New Approaches Summit in New York City, which Abboud also attended. An ECCC press release on the event touts Weinuo as the «first representative of the Chinese e-cigarette industry to participate in the forum in history» and said the «ECCC delegation has attracted much attention at this forum.»

Tony Abboud (Center) poses with Ao Weinuo (Center Right), the Secretary-General of the ECCC, and others at the New Tobacco (E-cigarette) Forum in New York City in September 2024. (Electronic Cigarette Industry Committee of the China Electronics Chamber of Commerce (ECCC).)
The press release went on to say that the «United States has the world’s largest and most influential benchmark market» and that the «ECCC delegation’s participation in this forum is of great significance.»
«It not only uses the international platform to send out a positive voice for the industry and establish a good image of Chinese e-cigarette products in the world, but also demonstrates the ECCC’s far-reaching collaborative work ability and influence in the world as the organization of Chinese e-cigarette companies,» the press release continued, highlighting that multiple current and former leaders from the World Health Organization were in attendance. «It is a concrete action to ‘tell the Chinese story well to the outside world.’»
In December 2024, Abboud visited ECCC in China for supplier and vendor conversations, where he received a «thank you prize for speaking,» according to an individual familiar with the event. A press release highlights how «more than 30 internationally renowned wholesalers and channel dealers from 10 countries and regions, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Russia, France, Canada, Spain, Romania» visited ECCC as an international delegation to «accelerate the resource matching and docking of Chinese and foreign electronic cigarettes.»
In addition to Abboud, multiple people on the board of directors for his VTA have ties to China, including Magellan and Demand Vape owner Jon Glauser, who said in a 2023 deposition that he has a «good relationship with every manufacturer over» in China and that he has «spent quite a bit of time in Shenzhen, China, over the years,» noting that this is «where 99 percent of e-cigarettes are made.»
«We form a relationship with them, buy it from them either as a master distributor or distributor,» he added.
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Geoff Habicht is another member of VTA’s board of directors and serves as the CEO of Mi-Pod, an Arizona-based company that imports numerous vape juices from China.
Mi-Pod was recently the subject of a letter from the ranking Democratic member of the House Committee Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party for importing vape products that were banned for domestic sale in China and were the subject of safety concern in the United States.
In addition to the board of directors, several vape companies that are included in VTA’s membership, which range from $500 to $200,000 membership levels to join, are Chinese companies, including VooPoo, which has donated at least $100,000 to be a member of VTA, according to its website.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.
China,Donald Trump,Joe Biden
INTERNACIONAL
El Parlamento de Venezuela avanzó en la aprobación de una ley minera que favorece a Estados Unidos

El Parlamento de Venezuela aprobó este lunes el proyecto de una ley de minas que busca aumentar las garantías jurídicas para generar confianza y atraer inversión nacional e internacional.
El proyecto es iniciativa de la presidenta Delcy Rodríguez, que asumió el poder tras la captura de Maduro en una operación militar estadounidense el 3 de enero.
Rodríguez, que gobierna bajo presión del presidente estadounidense Donald Trump, a quien entregó control del petróleo, también impulsó una reforma a la ley de Hidrocarburos, base de este proyecto de minería.
La ley deberá discutirse por segunda vez para ser definitivamente sancionada, luego de que EE.UU. emitiera una licencia que autoriza determinadas actividades relacionadas con la explotación de oro venezolano a cargo de empresas estadounidenses.
El proyecto de ley, que consta de 19 capítulos y 126 artículos, está conformado por «criterios técnicos» con una estructura acorde a «nuevas necesidades«, según dijo el diputado Orlando Camacho del Movimiento Somos Venezuela, quien presentó el proyecto de forma genérica ante la plenaria.
Asimismo, prosiguió, se busca que esta ley «pueda ayudar a aumentar todas las garantías jurídicas» para generar confianza y atraer inversión nacional e internacional.
La norma permitirá que se acuda «a mecanismos de mediación y arbitraje independientes para la resolución de controversias», siempre que se agoten «todas las instancias jurídicas nacionales», subrayó Camacho.
Además, busca fortalecer el rol el Ministerio Minero, cuyas funciones, dijo el diputado, se precisan en la ley para «regular, dirigir y organizar» toda la actividad del sector, que consiste en la «exploración, explotación, producción, arranque y acarreo de todos los minerales».
La propuesta se discutirá artículo por artículo en un segundo debate, después de ser sometida a consulta pública con sectores de la sociedad civil.
La norma establece la creación de un fondo social minero que establece «ingresos y funciones» para que se pueda «desarrollar y proteger la seguridad social» de los trabajadores de minería.
También fija la creación de la «superintendencia nacional de actividad minera» para fiscalizar y buscar beneficios que favorezcan la inversión nacional y extranjera.
Durante la sesión, transmitida por el canal del Parlamento en YouTube, el diputado opositor Luis Florido se quejó de la entrega del proyecto «a minutos de comenzar una sesión» y reclamó que las leyes se «presenten con tiempo».
Por su parte, el diputado Carlos Dickson Barbera, del partido opositor Un Nuevo Tiempo, decidió salvar el voto para «poder consultar a los asesores pertinentes» y hacer un «análisis respectivo» de la ley.
El viernes, el Departamento del Tesoro emitió una licencia que autoriza determinadas actividades relacionadas con la explotación y comercialización de oro venezolano por parte de empresas estadounidenses, un sector que hasta ahora estaba sujeto a sanciones.
La licencia general 51 permite a empresas estadounidenses comprar, transportar y revender oro de origen venezolano, incluso en operaciones que involucren al Gobierno de Venezuela o a la Compañía General de Minería de Venezuela (Minerven).
La autorización también abarca servicios logísticos, seguros y transporte vinculados al comercio de ese metal.
La emisión de esta licencia se dio días después de la reunión en Caracas entre la presidenta encargada de Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, y el secretario de Interior de Estados Unidos, Doug Burgum.
Durante ese encuentro, Rodríguez pidió dar celeridad a una reforma de la Ley de Minas, con el objetivo de ampliar el marco legal para desarrollar el sector con inversión nacional y extranjera.
A finales de enero pasado, el Parlamento aprobó por unanimidad la reforma de la Ley Orgánica de Hidrocarburos impulsada por Delcy Rodríguez para incentivar la inversión privada y extranjera en el sector petrolero.
Con información de la agencia EFE
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El fuerte descargo de la abogada argentina acusada de racismo en Brasil: “Me sexualizaron y se burlaron de mí”

Mientras aguarda la resolución de la Justicia brasileña, Agostina Páez, la abogada argentina detenida por racismo, hizo un fuerte descargo con motivo del Día de la Mujer y cuestionó las críticas que recibió.
“En estos meses conocí una cara muy dura del mundo. Viví y sigo viviendo situaciones profundamente violentas. Desde el segundo uno de todo lo que pasó sufrí violencia. Muchos hablan, pero apenas conocen el 1% de la historia. Sin embargo, mi cara y mi nombre se mostraron una y otra vez por el mundo, mientras nunca se vio de la misma forma a quienes me trataron mal, me sexualizaron y se burlaron de mí”, comenzó el extenso comunicado que compartió en sus redes.
Leé también: Se complica la situación de la abogada argentina detenida en Brasil acusada de haber hecho gestos racistas
En el mismo posteo aseguró sufrir violencia en el proceso judicial. “Quienes deberían actuar con imparcialidad ni siquiera tienen en cuenta el contexto de violencia que sufrí como mujer extranjera, ignoran pruebas y todo se limita a lo que unos cuantos cuentan”, resaltó.
También mencionó que a los cuatro días de haber sido acusada, la policía lanzó una campaña antirracismo “sin tener contexto, ni estar condenada, llevándose de unos segundos de video”. “Y no, no soy racista”, aseguró.
El descargo de Agostina Páez en el Día de la Mujer. (Foto: Instagram agostinapaez)
A la par, denunció que recibió “mensajes llenos de odio” y hasta amenazas de muerte, violación y maltrato. Sin embargo, dentro de la grave situación que está atravesando, aseguró, rescató una enseñanza. “También aprendí algo: la fuerza de una mujer. Porque a pesar de que intentan quebrarme, humillarme, atacarme y silenciarme, sigo aquí. Hay días en los que siento que no puedo más, que no aguanto más, que me quiero morir. Pero junto fuerzas y decido seguir de pie, afrontar lo que me toca”.
“Hay muchas batallas que atravesamos en silencio. Pero no dejemos que nos quiten la fuerza, ni la valentía de seguir de pie. Confío en Dios que es testigo y que pondrá las cosas en su lugar”, insistió la joven abogada y añadió: “El Día de la Mujer no se celebra, se conmemora porque nace de la lucha de mujeres que enfrentaron violencia, desigualdad y silencio”.
Leé también: La abogada argentina detenida por racismo en Brasil denunció que la amenazan por redes: “Vas a morir”
Además, Páez hizo especial foco en la acusación de racismo. “Ser racista es discriminar, despreciar, excluir o tratar a una persona como menos por el color de su piel. Una reacción emocional, con un gesto en medio de una discusión y frente a agravios no me convierte en racista, porque nunca hubo esa intención”, afirmó.
Asimismo, criticó que nunca se tomó en cuenta la agresión que ella sufrió por parte del empleado del bar. “Entiendo que era más llamativo un titular que dice: ‘abogada argentina realiza gestos racistas a un trabajador de un bar’, pero ese recorte omite el contexto de ‘luego de que él realizara gestos sexuales mientras le gritaba cosas’”.
La abogada argentina cuestionó a quienes criticaron su accionar y lo relacionaron con su profesión. (Foto: Instagram agostinapaez)
“Por eso, cuando una mujer es agredida, insultada o humillada, muchas veces la reacción emocional también nace desde ese lugar de defensa frente a una situación de sentirse acorralada frente a un posible abusador. Mucho más en un contexto de estar en otro país, sintiéndome perseguida por hombres. Eso no significa justificar nada ni negar que el racismo exista o que sea grave”, reconoció.
En su descargo, Agostina también se disculpó con las personas que “sinceramente se hayan sentido ofendidas por el video o por la imagen que se instaló” sobre ella. “Ese nunca fue mi propósito”, remarcó y aclaró: “Pedir perdón no significa asumir una intención racista, porque no la hubo”.
Sobre el final del comunicado, la abogada santiagueña también cuestionó a quienes pusieron foco en su profesión: “¿Desde cuando yo tengo que ser un modelo universal de moral, con una conducta ideal, para el resto de la sociedad? ¿Por qué por tener un título se me quiere colocar en un estándar más alto que el resto y con la responsabilidad de ‘ser ejemplo’?“.
“¿Se olvidan que detrás de un título hay una persona? ¿Por qué tengo que cumplir expectativas morales? Ninguna profesión convierte a una persona en una referente moral obligatoria. La responsabilidad profesional se limita al ejercicio de la función que tienes que cumplir, en mi caso, defender derechos. No soy un manual de conducta, es mi vida, y no tengo por qué, ni quiero, ser ejemplo de conducta ideal de nadie. Soy humana y es mi vida, me puedo equivocar y aprender miles de millones de veces», concluyó.
Brasil, Racismo, Detenida
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Virginia Dems send Spanberger bill that could let some repeat offenders out without secured bond, expert warns

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A top national figure in the bail industry warned of the dangers behind a Virginia bill heading to Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s desk that would remove bond requirements for previously convicted felons.
Virginia state Del. Katrina Callsen, D-Charlottesville, drafted HB 357, which critics say makes it easier for criminals to get out of jail on an unsecured bond. The bill passed both chambers in Richmond along party lines.
In comments to Fox News Digital on Monday, National Association of Bail Agents President Michelle Esquenazi said she was familiar with the Virginia legislation and that it will only serve to erode public safety.
«We believe any time recidivist offenders are released due to unsecured bail policies, it puts communities in direct danger,» Esquenazi said. «Many are unaware of how secured bonds insulate public safety throughout the United States of America.»
ICE NABS IRANIAN NATIONAL WITH RAPE, SODOMY CONVICTIONS AFTER VIRGINIA DEMOCRATS MOVE TO CURB COOPERATION
Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate and former Rep. Abigail Spanberger arrives at a canvass launch event in Lake Ridge, Virginia, on Nov. 2, 2025. The image also shows an empty jail cell in a composite photo. (Win McNamee/Getty Images; Michael Matthey/picture alliance via Getty Images)
«This bill is in direct contrast to the needs of all communities in Virginia, whether they are Republican, Democrat, or Independent.»
Esquenazi said criminals don’t choose victims based on political ideology and that policymakers have failed to understand that bringing criminals to justice should be nonpartisan.
While Callsen did not respond to requests for comment, similar legislation in recent years has often come about as a wish for offenders to receive «second chances» — a dynamic Fox News Digital asked Esquenazi about.
«The secured bail industry is an industry of second chances,» she said.
«However, if you’re going to continue to commit crime, policymakers have to understand and take into account that committing crime is not a mandate. It’s a career choice.»
VIRGINIA GOV SPANBERGER CUTS TIES WITH ICE IN FEDERAL IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT COOPERATION

The Virginia Capitol in Richmond, Va., is shown on March 4, 2010. Virginia lawmakers handled hundreds of bills on Feb. 13, 2024, as a key legislative deadline neared. (Steve Helber/AP)
Policies like HB 357 serve to give recidivists more than just second but third and subsequent chances because a second chance is «only a title,» which the policies themselves far exceed, she said.
Justice Forward Virginia, a progressive criminal justice reform group focused on advancing related legislation, listed the bill in its section of 2026 priorities. The group did not respond to a request for comment.
Callsen’s bill removes language from Code of Virginia § 19.2-123 governing «Release of accused on unsecured bail or promise to appear» that currently states any person arrested for a felony or who is on bond for an unrelated arrest or on parole may only be released upon securing a secured bond.
Instead, it retains only language providing preestablished conditions of release for that offender.
Other critics took to X, including Club For Growth’s Andrew Follett, who posted a passage from Soviet dissident Alexander Solzhenitsyn about a civilian being punished more for being caught with a concealed knife than a felon for whom it would be «mere misbehavior; tradition» — and commented that «Democrats have a crush on criminals — it isn’t more complicated than that.»
«Under leftist ideology, society is responsible for crime, not individuals,» Follett said.
«Or, [Virginia House] Speaker Don Scott is preparing for his next arrest,» quipped another X user.
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Scott, D-Portsmouth, served more than 7 years of a 10-year 1994 sentence for federal crack cocaine-related charges — and was one of thousands of convicts who had their rights to vote and serve in office restored by GOP Gov. Robert F. McDonnell in 2013.
After former President Biden pardoned him in 2025, Scott said that his «journey from being arrested as a law student to standing here today as the first Black Speaker of the House of Delegates in Virginia’s 405-year history is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and transformative power of second chances,» according to Hampton Roads’ ABC affiliate.
bail outs,abigail spanberger,virginia,bills,crime world
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