Sany urges judge to consider Obama lawsuit
Lawyers for wind-farm unit say US president violated firm's rights by blocking transaction
An affiliate of Sany Group, China's biggest machinery maker, urged a United States judge to consider its lawsuit challenging President Barack Obama's decision to block a corporate transaction on national security grounds.
Lawyers for Ralls Corp told US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson during a hearing on Wednesday that Obama violated the company's constitutional rights by shutting down a planned Oregon wind-farm project without explanation or any opportunity to seek to change the president's mind.
"Out of the blue we get an order saying 'national security'," Viet Dinh, a lawyer for Ralls, said during a two-hour argument in Washington.
"We do not know whether it's locational or whether it's equipment related or the height of the tower. We've been asked to disprove a negative in an entire universe of negatives."
The Department of Justice said the lawsuit must be dismissed, arguing the Defence Production Act bars judicial review of presidential orders suspending or prohibiting an acquisition of a US business by a foreign person.
The statute "clearly states that findings and actions are precluded from judicial review", Joel McElvain, a justice department lawyer, told Jackson, who did not rule on the government's request.