Republicans defend Darline Graham after debate misstep: 'Real deal'

Republican Sen. Darline Graham tells South Carolina voters that America has to stop leaning on Communist China. Her husband’s job runs through a company whose owners took control of a Chinese weapons maker. That weapons maker listed a state arms trader that the U.S. sanctioned for helping Russia’s war on Ukraine as a partner. After reporters started asking questions, the websites showing those ties went dark.

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Tough on China, Unless It’s Family

Graham was appointed in July to replace her late brother, Lindsey Graham, and she is now running for a full term against Democrat Annie Andrews. Her pitch includes a promise to stop depending on Communist China for things America can make ourselves. She said it in an August interview, as The Washington Post reported.

Her husband, Larry Nordone, works for two companies that share an address in Columbia. One is Birchwood Trading, a wholesale gift and home decor business. The other is Cosmox North America, which sells toy guns and imports firearms for retailers. The Post found that Cosmox imports gel blaster toy guns from China.

The Chinese Weapons Maker

Cosmox North America is a subsidiary of New York-based Cosmox Outdoors. In 2021, Cosmox Outdoors merged with Zhongzhou Machinery Works, a Chinese weapons manufacturer known as ZZM. The company told the Post its shareholders gained control of ZZM through a private deal.

Until recently, ZZM’s own website advertised its “military-grade” production. It also named two giant Chinese state arms companies as partners and clients: Norinco and Poly Technologies. Both have been hit with U.S. sanctions.

The Russia Connection

File:Varta APC 2.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

In June 2024, the Treasury Department put Poly Technologies on its sanctions list under its Russia program. Researchers at C4ADS had tracked the company shipping sensitive military technology to Russian defense firms after the invasion of Ukraine.

Norinco is a Chinese military conglomerate with a history of arming Iran going back to the 1980s. The Bush administration sanctioned it in 2003 over missile-related sales to Iran, then lifted those penalties in 2005. Drop Site reports that it remains on a Treasury restricted list.

A Senator Who Champions Ukraine

Ukraine fears it will have a weaker link to Trump after Sen. Lindsey Graham's sudden death | PBS News

Lindsey Graham was the Senate’s loudest Republican voice for arming Ukraine. Darline Graham was lead sponsor of a Russia and Iran sanctions bill named for her brother. It became law in September. Trump then signed an executive order that rolled back its provisions.

So the senator selling herself as Putin’s enemy is married to a man who works for a company whose corporate family bragged about partnering with a firm sanctioned for arming Putin. Ryan Grim of Drop Site called the link a sharp contrast with the family’s stand on Ukraine.

The Websites Went Dark

The Post asked ZZM about its defense industry ties. Then ZZM’s and Cosmox Outdoors’ websites came down for “maintenance.” When ZZM’s site returned days later, the military-grade language was gone. So were Norinco and Poly Technologies.

A Cosmox spokesperson told the Post the company has had no commercial dealings with CSGC, NORINCO, or Poly Technologies. She said the old web pages were out of date and that ZZM no longer works with those firms. Graham’s campaign, Cosmox and ZZM did not answer Drop Site’s questions.

Missing From Her Disclosure

Graham’s Senate financial disclosure, filed in August, lists only Birchwood Trading as her husband’s employer. Cosmox isn’t on it. Her spokesman told the SC Daily Gazette that Nordone’s paychecks come only from Birchwood, and that one owner runs both businesses.

Andrews has demanded that Graham recuse herself from China trade and military votes and cut her family’s business ties to China. Graham fired back at their Oct. 11 debate: “You’re sinking pretty low.” She says Cosmox sells children’s toys and that her husband has no ownership or equity stake. Her spokesman told critics most toys come from China anyway.

The Bottom Line

Darline Graham wants South Carolina to believe she is the tough-on-China, stand-with-Ukraine Republican. Her own household tells a different story. Her husband works inside a corporate family that showed off ties to Beijing’s war machine. Her disclosure leaves that job out. And the evidence got scrubbed once reporters called. Voters deserve a senator who can tell the difference between “America First” and “family first.”

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BREAKING: Republican Darline Graham’s Husband…