A U.S. State Department Foreign Service officer has been dismissed after a hidden-camera recording revealed he had maintained an undisclosed romantic relationship with the daughter of a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) affiliate. According to official statements, the officer, identified as Daniel Choi, failed to report the relationship to U.S. security officials as required. His termination followed an internal review ordered by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and approved by President Donald Trump.
The case emerged after footage from an undercover investigation conducted by O’Keefe Media Group surfaced online. In the video, Choi acknowledged that his girlfriend’s father was “straight-up Communist Party” and admitted he had concealed the relationship despite regulations requiring Foreign Service officers to disclose close personal connections with foreign nationals. During the recording, he stated, “I defied my government for love,” and suggested the woman “could have been a spy.”
A State Department spokesperson said that, to the department’s knowledge, this is the first termination carried out under the authority of Executive Order 14211, signed earlier this year to strengthen accountability within the diplomatic corps.In a statement announcing the decision, the department said the officer’s failure to disclose the relationship constituted a breach of security obligations and a failure to faithfully implement U.S. foreign policy under the authority of the president.
