Lawmakers Demand DOJ Explain Dropping of Cases Against Chinese Researchers Accused of Hiding CCP Military Ties

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, has asked Attorney General Merrick Garland to explain why prosecutors have dropped a series of cases connected with the Justice Department’s (DOJ) clampdown on Chinese espionage.

In July, federal prosecutors filed motions to dismiss charges against six Chinese researchers who had been accused of hiding their ties to Chinese institutions or the Chinese military. The DOJ said at the time that “recent developments” in those cases had prompted the department to “re-evaluate these prosecutions,” stating that the dismissals were made “in the interest of justice.”

However, other reports have suggested that the decision to drop the charges was due to other reasons, such as the FBI’s failure to properly inform the accused of their rights against self-incrimination, Jordan wrote to Garland in a joint letter (pdf) with Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) dated Sept. 27.

“It is not clear whether the Department dismissed these [charges] due to reported misconduct by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) or because the Department under your leadership is more invested in pursuing the far-left political goals of the Biden-Harris Administration than in protecting American national security interests,” the letter reads.

“These actions by the Department raise serious concerns about its commitment to confronting the national security threats posed by the People’s Republic of China.”

The letter comes days after the DOJ struck a deal with Huawei Chief Financial officer Meng Wanzhou allowing her to return to China, nearly three years after the executive was arrested in Canada at the request of U.S. prosecutors who had accused Meng of lying to HSBC, causing the bank to violate U.S. sanctions on Iran.

“The letter comes days after the DOJ struck a deal with Huawei Chief Financial officer Meng Wanzhou allowing her to return to China”

this was a huge present from Joe to China, but has received little attention on FR:

25 Sept: news.com.au: Huawei boss Meng Wanzhou flies to China after deal with US, ‘Two Michaels’ freed by Beijing
Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of billionaire Huawei founder Meng Wanzhou, has returned to China, three years after her arrest in Canada
by Andrew Backhouse
Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou was freed Friday following an agreement with the US Justice Department to suspend the fraud charges against her that had poisoned Beijing’s relations with Washington and Ottawa...
The US had accused her of fraud against HSBC bank and wire fraud, saying she tried to hide violations of US sanctions on Iran by Huawei affiliate Skycom...

But on Friday, US prosecutors settled for Ms Meng agreeing to a statement of facts in the case.
In exchange, they agreed to defer the charges — which carried the risk of up to 30 years in prison — until December 1, 2022, and then drop them if Ms Meng abides by the terms of the agreement.
“In entering into the deferred prosecution agreement, (Ms) Meng has taken responsibility for her principal role in perpetrating a scheme to defraud a global financial institution,” acting US Attorney Nicole Boeckmann said in a statement.
“(Ms) Meng’s admissions are evidence of a consistent pattern of deception to violate US law,” said FBI Assistant Director Alan Kohler...

Australia has also been involved in a major dispute with Huawei.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/huawei-boss-meng-wanzhou-freed-in-major-deal-with-us-flies-home-to-china/news-story/b833c609c3b90e46b3d660e47c8c32e3

25 Aug 2020 updated 8 Sept 2020: Global News: Inside the Chinese military attack on Nortel
By Sam Cooper
In 2004 Nortel cyber-security advisor Brian Shields investigated a serious breach in the telecom giant’s network. At the time Nortel’s fibre optics equipment was the world’s envy, with 70 per cent of all internet traffic running on Canadian technology.

And someone wanted Nortel’s secrets...

So the systematic hacking continued, Shields says. And as a result, Shields says, in 2009 — after getting massively underbid on a series of contracts by China’s state-champion company Huawei — Nortel went bankrupt...

Another fact that seems more than coincidental, Shields says, is that Huawei was founded in 1987 by former PLA engineer Ren Zhengfei. And the Chinese Communist Party’s five-year plan for 1986 to 1990 was to “speed up the construction of the energy, communications, telecommunications and raw materials industries.”...
https://globalnews.ca/news/7275588/inside-the-chinese-military-attack-on-nortel/

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