Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said Thursday that he is “not in favor” of former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin participating in efforts to purchase TikTok as a bill that would require the app’s parent company to divest or face a U.S. ban gains new momentum.
“I like some of these ideas about divestiture to American firms and the like,” Wyden said at Semafor’s World Economy Summit.
However, he added, “I am not in favor of Steve Mnuchin being part of it because of what he has been able to get classified and because of his connections with states, particularly Arab states, that are hostile.”
Mnuchin said last month that he was putting together a group to buy TikTok shortly after the House passed legislation that would require ByteDance, the app’s China-based parent company, to divest within about six months or face a ban on U.S. app stores and web hosting services.
However, Wyden has previously voiced concerns about Mnuchin’s ties to Saudi Arabia through his investment fund.
According to reporting from The New York Times in 2022, the former Treasury secretary’s fund, Liberty Strategic Capital, had secured a $1 billion commitment from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, as well as $500 million commitments from the Emiratis, Kuwaitis and Qataris.
“I don’t see how America will be any more secure if the next owner of TikTok is a MAGA Trump crony backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund,” Wyden said last month.
“I’m absolutely concerned about the Chinese government’s access to Americans’ personal data,” he added. “But every concern that has been voiced about Chinese influence is equally valid when it comes to a Saudi government that murdered a Washington Post journalist after planting spyware on his wife’s phone.”
Wyden’s latest comments on a potential TikTok sale come after Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) came out in support of the legislation on Wednesday. Cantwell, whose support was key to clearing a path for the bill to proceed in the Senate, backed the legislation after it was updated to extend the period of time for a sale.