Huawei will go against US prosecutor’ motion of disqualifying its defense lawyer

Last week, US prosecutors filed a motion in the US District Court in Brooklyn, New York, to remove James Cole, defender of Huawei, from the case. Later on, Huawei responded that it’ll fight against this motion.

US files criminal charges against Huawei and its CFO Meng Wanzhou

According to Reuters, Huawei said it will “Vigorously Oppose” a motion filed by the US prosecutors on Thursday to disqualify its lead defense lawyer from a case accusing the Chinese telecom giant on bank fraud and sanctions violations on Iran.

Cole was the No.2 official at the Justice Department between 2011 and 2015, a period when the United States was obtaining information on how Huawei might have been doing business in Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions.

The motion filed by US prosecutors doesn’t reveal why they seek to remove Cole from this case. As the prosecutor said they had filed a sealed, classified motion to disqualify Cole and expected to file a public copy by May 10.

Huawei said in an emailed statement to Reuters that it chose Jim Cole as its lawyer in 2017. “We have seen no facts from the government that would justify disqualifying him and denying Huawei its constitutional rights. Huawei will vigorously oppose the government’s motion,” it said.

China says US, Canada abused extradition agreement in the case of arrested Huawei executive Meng

Last December, Huawei’s Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, daughter of the company’s founder Ren Zhengfei, arrested in Canada in charge of bank fraud and sanction violation against Iran and obstructing justice.

Meng, who is in the center of this issue, has said she is innocent and is fighting against extradition to the US. She will appear in the court in Vancouver on May 8 to answer on charges against her.