Americans generally hold the opinion that “Made in China” is essentially shorthand for cheaply made unreliable products. Therefore it comes as little surprise to learn that the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health found that upwards of 60% of the 67 different types of masks, including the popular N95 masks, imported from China failed to meet U.S. standards. As The Wall Street Journal reports, “One mask that Niosh tested, sold in packaging bearing unauthorized Food and Drug Administration logos, filtered out as little as 35% of particles. Another, marked KN95, a Chinese standard similar to N95, had one sample test below 15%, far short of the 95% it advertised, Niosh said. KN95 and N95 both refer to standards that call for masks to block 95% of very small particles.”

In light of this reality and the fact that the Chinese communist government’s deceitful actions directly led to the current global China Virus pandemic costing a quarter million lives and massively damaged economies worldwide, one would have thought that even a Democrat governor would be wary of doing any business with Beijing — especially any business that involved medical supplies.

But leave it to California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom to foolishly go where no reasonably minded individual would. It was recently learned that Newsom inked a “murky” $1 billion mask deal with a Chinese company. Naturally, Newsom doesn’t want anyone looking into it. When The Los Angeles Times sought information on the deal, the paper received the following ridiculous response from Ryan Gronsky, an attorney from the governor’s Office of Emergency Services: “Publishing the agreement now — before performance under the contract is complete — would introduce substantial and unnecessary risk to the State’s ability to secure necessary supplies.” Furthermore, Newsom’s office told the Times that it didn’t need to make the contract public because “all responsive records are exempt from disclosure, including exemptions for records reflecting attorney work product, attorney-client privileged information, or other information exempt from disclosure under federal or state law.” Spoken like a true authoritarian tyrant.

Here’s hoping the Times refuses to quit digging into this obviously shady deal, no matter how loudly Newsom may claim to be simply looking out for the “health” needs of his constituents.