GOP's Hawley Calls NBA Subpoena 'Great Idea'

MO senator wants league to explain financial dealings with China

Sen. Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) wants to subpoena NBA commissioner Adam Silver to testify about the league's relationship with China.

"We deserve to have them explain to us why they won't stand up to this authoritarian regime. … I mean, it's not a hard question to answer, do you think that the Chinese government ought to be putting people into concentration camps," Hawley said Monday morning on the Hugh Hewitt Show. "Getting these answers is absolutely crucial, and I'm open to just about any avenue to get them."

Hawley's comments came after the Missouri Republican sent an open letter to the NBA that condemned its new jersey policy, which allows players to wear messages in support of the Black Lives Matter movement but does not allow them to select messages criticizing human rights violations in China.

"If a player chooses to display a message of support for victims of the Chinese Communist Party on their jersey, will the NBA allow the player to wear their jersey or will it censor that player in order to avoid drawing Beijing's ire?" the letter reads. No amount of profit can justify collaborating with a regime for which violent suppression and enslavement are routine tools of governance."

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