Hundreds of American politicians, businessmen and public figures plan to attend the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) annual summit in Davos, Switzerland, next week, including the FBI director, as well as several sitting governors, senators, and representatives, according to two lists of attendees obtained by investigative journalist Jordan Schachtel (here and here).
The forum, led by WEF Chairman Klaus Schwab, will take place January 16-23 to discuss “Cooperation in a Fragmented World.”
The world today is at a critical inflection point. The sheer number of ongoing crises calls for bold collective action.
The Annual Meeting will convene leaders from government, business, and civil society to address the state of the world and discuss priorities for the year ahead.
It will provide a platform to engage in constructive, forward-looking dialogues and help find solutions through public-private cooperation.
Among the political and government figures attending the controversial confab are FBI director Chris Wray; John F. Kerry Special Presidential Envoy for Climate; Governor Brian Brian Kemp (R-Ga.); Governor J.B. Pritzker (D-Ill.); Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D-Mich.); Samantha Power Administrator, US Agency for International Development; Avril Haines, Director of National Intelligence; Katherine Tai United States Trade Representative; and Martin J. Walsh Secretary of Labor of the United States.
A number of Republican and Democrat lawmakers are also on the confirmed attendee list, including Sen. Christopher A. Coons (D-Del.); Rep. Darrell Issa (R0Calif.); Rep. Gregory W. Meeks (D-N.Y.); Sen. James Risch (R-Id.); Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.); Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.); Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.); Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.); Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.); Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.); Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.).
Since the list was publicized, two Republicans have indicated that they have opted not to attend the event.
Risch’s office has reportedly informed the media that he will not, in fact, be attending the forum.
Gallagher’s office initially sent a message to Headline USA , saying that he was headed to the “belly of the beast” to warn other attendees about the “existential threat” posed by the Chinese Communist Party.
“Rep. Gallagher things it’s time for the world to wake up to the existential threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party and to selectively decouple our economies,” Gallagher’s communications director, Jordan Dunn, told the outlet.
“He’s taking his warning to the belly of the beast and putting everyone there on notice: You’re either with us, or with a genocidal communist regime hellbent on destroying America,” Dunn added.
Later on, Dunn sent out a second statement saying that the congressman will not, in fact, attending the meeting.
“He was invited but is not going. He’s staying back to continue setting up the Select Committee on the CCP and to lay groundwork for future hearings,” Dunn said.
Other Republicans say they plan to share a conservative vision of governance with attendees at the globalist summit.
“Governor Kemp looks forward to traveling to Davos to share with leaders how the state of Georgia’s long record of conservative governance, protecting individual liberty, and championing opportunity can serve as a model for economic success across the country and around the world,” a Kemp spokesperson said Wednesday in a statement.
Kemp will reportedly be on a panel addressing the foreign policy implications of the “reshaped legislative landscape” in the United States alongside Pritzker, and multiple members of the U.S. House and Senate.
In a statement on his congressional website, Rep. Issa said he has always “worked to take the message of American Exceptionalism everywhere it needs to be heard,” including “in places that may not agree.”
“I’ve given speeches about the best of America in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. I’ve spoken out against Iran only a few miles from its border. I’ve called out China and stood with the leaders of Taiwan. I’ve traveled to our southern border and told the truth about the epidemic of crime, trafficking, and fentanyl plaguing our neighbor and the crisis it has caused in this country.
“Each time, much of the audience didn’t want to hear it.
“Over the years, the World Economic Forum has gotten much wrong – from crippling COVID lockdowns, to climate extremism, to exacerbating the global energy crisis, to the manifest dangers of the Chinese Communist Party.
“I’m not afraid to say this in front of the conference, and this year is no exception. The WEF’s 2023 invitations to the presidents of Azerbaijan and the Congo are a mistake. So, too, is the Forum’s decision to provide a special platform for a major Chinese official.
“That is why no American leader should be unwilling to tell the world what we are doing right. No conservative should be unwilling to go where progressive activists, world leaders, and the mainstream media are gathered and tell them when they are wrong.
“I believe we benefit from participating in conversations where we tell the truth about America’s point of view. We should not accede to being excluded from a deeper dialogue at the World Economic Forum any more than being shut out of college campuses, online platforms, or public forums. This is what liberals are doing all over the world to drive away dissent and prevent free speech.
“As I attend the World Economic Forum – with bipartisan Congressional colleagues – I will not be a silent observer. I will continue to be a forceful voice for our conservative values of liberty and freedom and the best of what makes America great.”
Issa is listed as a confirmed attendee of the WEF annual meeting in May of 2022, as well.
Salazar’s office has not yet put out a statement on her attendance. The Florida congresswoman will be the only Republican on a panel with Sinema, Coons, Manchin, and Sherrill, entitled, “America (un)Bound” on Jan. 17. A description of the panel reads, “What can we expect from a reshaped legislative landscape in the United States as it relates to domestic and foreign policy?”
Also attending the summit will be executives from hundreds of businesses, financial institutions and organizations, including the Gates Foundation, the Soros “Open Society” network, AIG, Accenture, Amazon, American Heart Association, Anheuser-Busch, Atlantic Council, Bank of America, Bayer, Bristol-Myers Squibb Global Biopharmaceutical Company, Atlantic Council, Chevron, Cisco, Citi, Cloudflare, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, Dell Technologies, Dow, Cargill, Eco Lab, Estee Lauder, Eurasia Group, Goldman Sachs, Google, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Honeywell, IBM, Illumina, JP Morgan/Chase, Mastercard, Meta, Microsoft, MIT, Morgan Stanley, Natl. Congress of American Indians, PayPal, Pepsi, S&P Global, State Farm Automobile Insurance, The Coca-Cola Company, Tyson Foods, Uber, United Nations, United Way, Verizon, Vimeo, Visa, Walmart, and Western Union.
Corporate media organizations that will have top officials attending the confab include: The New York Times, Associated Press, Atlantic, Axios, Bloomberg News, CBS News, Forbes, Foreign Affairs, Fortune, Fox Business, Harvard Business Review Group, NBC, Time, Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post.
A number of universities are sending representatives to the summit including: Carnegie Mellon University, Duke University, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, University of California Berkeley, University of California San Diego, University of California San Francisco, University of California Santa Barbara, University of Cincinnati, University of Chicago, Chicago Booth School of Business, and Wharton School.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced in an address to the nation last month that the government of Ukraine was preparing to participate in the WEF summit. It wasn’t immediately clear whether he would attend the January 16-20 WEF in person or participate virtually.
A “maximum” of 5,000 soldiers have been assigned, but may not necessarily be deployed, to Davos to provide security during the WEF conference.
“In 2023, the armed forces will once again support the civilian authorities in the canton of Graubünden in carrying out security tasks in connection with the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF),” a notice on the Swiss Armed Forces (SAF) website states.
“Parliament approved the deployment of a maximum of 5000 soldiers on these civil affairs support operations from 2022 until 2024. The 2023 WEF meeting will be held from 16 to 20 January, the army’s mission lasts from 10 to 26 January.”