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On
Friday, Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou flew home to
China from Canada after reaching an agreement with U.S.
prosecutors to end the bank fraud case against her, a point of
tension between China and the United States.
Within hours of news of the deal, the two Canadians who were
arrested shortly after Meng was taken into custody were released
from Chinese jails and were on their way back to Canada.
On Monday, the White House denied that the moves constituted a
prisoner swap, with press secretary Jen Psaki instead describing
Meng's deal as an action taken by an independent Department of
Justice.
But on Tuesday, U.S. Representative Jim Banks sent a letter to
Attorney General Merrick Garland asking for all communications
between the White House, State and Justice departments since
President Joe Biden took office, raising questions of
interference in the case against Meng.
"You told the Senate Judiciary Committee that you would protect
the integrity of the Justice Department from political
influences," he wrote. "But this sequence has left me wondering
if the White House and State Department interfered in this
prosecution case. To what extent was the decision to let Meng go
influenced by politics?"
The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a
request for comment.
(Reporting by Alexandra Alper; Editing by Dan Grebler)
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