IC Oversight & Authorities — 2026-05-08

HPSCI Chairman Crawford Hosts CCP Counterintelligence Roundtable in Florida

On May 8, HPSCI Chairman Rick Crawford and Rep. Greg Steube co-hosted a roundtable at the University of South Florida in Tampa, the third such event Crawford has convened nationally on CCP counterintelligence threats to the U.S. homeland. The HPSCI press release identifies the briefing panel as including NCSC Director Wes Street and senior leaders from the FBI, CISA, DOE, Florida National Guard, U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Coast Guard, and DHS Intelligence and Analysis, across classified and unclassified sessions. Reps. Kat Cammack and Kathy Castor also attended alongside Florida legislators and local law enforcement. Both primary-source releases name CCP land acquisition near military installations, cyber intrusions, and influence operations as the core topics.

Analysis
Tampa's selection reflects MacDill Air Force Base, home to CENTCOM and SOCOM, making CCP land acquisition near military installations the natural focal concern. The interagency panel, corroborated across two official press releases, spans NCSC, FBI, CISA, and multiple DHS and military components in both classified and unclassified sessions, indicating genuine coordination function beyond public messaging. Crawford is unlikely to introduce legislation or request additional counterintelligence funding within 90 days of the May 2026 roundtable, as no prior iteration produced markup activity or funding requests. The assembled interagency presence may instead reflect Crawford building a political national security record ahead of the 2026 midterms.
3 sources
  1. Chairman Crawford Hosts Additional Roundtable Event to Discuss CCP Counterintelligence Threats in Tampa, Florida - House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
  2. Steube Moderates House Intel Panel on Chinese Counterintelligence Threats to Florida - Congressman Greg Steube
  3. Florida In The Crosshairs: Lawmakers Convene In Tampa To Tackle Rising CCP Threats - Tampa Free Press

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UNCLASSIFIED // OPEN SOURCE