Thursday 3 November 2022 01:07 AM Chinese-owned TikTok hires Biden's former campaign national press secretary ... trends now TikTok has hired President Joe Biden's former campaign national press secretary to 'manage policy communications' for the U.S. and the Americas. Jamal Brown, who also served as the No. 2 spokesman for the Department of Defense, has joined the video sharing phenomena amid a crackdown on the company for its alleged misuse of U.S. consumer data, posing a national security threat. The hire is the latest in a pattern of top Hill staffers being snapped up by TikTok parent company ByteDance for its influence operations. Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley told DailyMail.com: 'This sort of cozy relationship between the Biden Defense Department and TikTok is alarming. 'TikTok and their Chinese parent company present a serious national security threat but Joe Biden continues to dither as they gobble up Americans' personal information. 'Get serious: make ByteDance sell TikTok.' It also comes as FCC commissioner Brendan Carr called on the Biden administration to ban the app in an interview on Tuesday, over concerns it is housing millions of consumers' data on insecure servers in China. Brown is a well-connected hire for TikTok, which is currently fighting an intense PR battle over its U.S. presence. Jamal Brown, who served as a press secretary for Joe Biden's 2020 campaign, has been hired by TikTok to work on their communications team Josh Hawley, senator for Missouri, said the TikTok hire was a sign of the 'cosy' relationship between the Biden administration and TikTok Brown is well-connected and likely to be busy with the challenges to TikTok's operation in the U.S. TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, is readying for a battle with U.S. regulators Zhang Yiming, founder and global CEO of ByteDance, attends the World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit on December 17, 2015. The app was launched in 2016 Wisconsin Republican Congressman Mike Gallagher also slammed the hiring moves by the Chinese-owned company. 'This is a shocking example of how the CCP uses the swamp against us,' he told DailyMail.com. 'Given the threat TikTok poses to user privacy and the potential for its algorithm to be manipulated by the CCP at any point to influence American public opinion, we need to ban the app before it is too late.' Brown served as Biden's national press secretary for his 2020 campaign, after more than six years' experience working in the Obama White House. During the presidential debates in October 2020 Brown tweeted highlighting his bosses' allegations about Donald Trump's ties to China, used to combat the scandal of First Son Hunter Biden's business deals with Beijing-backed Chinese companies. '@JoeBiden: 'Russia is paying you a lot. China is paying you a lot. Release your tax returns, or stop talking about corruption.' #Debates2020' he tweeted. Brown also appeared in TV interviews ahead of the election trying to dismiss the laptop as 'misinformation' – after which DailyMail.com proved it was real. Biden campaign National Press Secretary @JTOBrown responds to Twitter’s decision to block a New York Post story about Hunter Biden.“Twitter’s response to the actual article itself makes clear that these purported allegations are false.” #CheddarLive pic.twitter.com/PdPEkMZ85p — Cheddar News (@cheddar) October 15, 2020 'I think Twitter's response to the actual article itself makes clear that these purported allegations are false and they're not true. I'm glad to see social media companies like Twitter taking responsibility to limit misinformation,' he told financial cable news channel Cheddar. Brown's first government role was in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) where his policy brief included cybersecurity. He was sworn in at the Department of Defense in February 2021 as Deputy Press Secretary, working out of the Office of the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs. TikTok does not appear to have released any statement announcing Brown joining their spin team. His hiring was first mentioned in one line of a Politico newsletter on Tuesday. The bullet, listed among other DC job announcements, described Brown's role to 'manage policy communications for the Americas, primarily focusing on the United States.' TikTok is believed to be ramping up its lobbying and PR operation, ahead of expected battles over its presence in the United States Press releases on the DoD website with statements attributed to Brown include announcements about COVID vaccinations for the military. He was quoted on DefenseNews.com giving a statement about increasing diversity at the Pentagon, and on a Milwaukee CBS channel about Biden's order to cancel DoD help with southern border wall construction. The news of his hiring comes hot on the heels of warnings by U.S. regulators about the Chinese government getting its hands on the data of the 200 million Americans who use the app. Carr, a commissioner for the Federal Communications Commission, told news site Axios on Tuesday: 'I don't believe there is a path forward for anything other than a ban.' He said there was not 'a world in which you could come up with sufficient protection on the data that you could have sufficient confidence that it's not finding its way back into the hands of the [Chinese Communist Party].' In June, Carr wrote to the CEOs of Apple and Google to urge them to ban the app from their platforms. 'At its core, TikTok functions as a sophisticated surveillance tool that harvests extensive amounts of personal and sensitive data,' the commissioner's letter to the tech heads said. 'Indeed, TikTok collects everything from search and browsing histories to keystroke patterns and biometric identifiers, including faceprints … and voiceprints.' TikTok is currently in talks with CFIUS, a committee of various government agencies that regulates foreign companies in the US, to see whether it can be sold by ByteDance to an American company. The New York Times reported last month that Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, who is leading the negotiations over TikTok's U.S. status, 'has concerns that the terms are not tough enough on China,' according to two sources. The company released a statement saying: 'We are confident that we are on a path to reaching an agreement with the U.S. Government that will satisfy all reasonable national security concerns.' Stacy Ettinger, a partner in a D.C. law firm, was hired by TikTok to represent them. She was previously an aide to Chuck Schumer TikTok appears to be on a hiring spree to bring top spin doctors into its fold. Another job posting on its website offers a position for 'Senior Policy Communications Manager, Americas', with 10 or more years of experience in public affairs. The role includes responsibility to 'Develop strategies for engaging with and educating policymakers around issues important to TikTok and our community', and being able to 'Manage reactive communications for policy and regulatory issues'. According to lobbying disclosures, ByteDance also hired Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's former aide to lobby for them this year. Stacy Ettinger, a partner at lobbying group K&L Gates, was part of a team paid $40,000 to make ByteDance's case in Washington DC. She was previously senior legal and policy advisor to Schumer, before joining the law firm. All rights reserved for this news site (dailymail) and under his responsibility