Huawei will fight US efforts to disqualify lead lawyer James Cole in bank fraud and sanctions case
- The US government did not make public why it is seeking to remove Cole, a former deputy attorney general in the Obama administration
- ‘We have seen no facts from the government that would justify disqualifying him and denying Huawei its constitutional rights,’ the company says
Huawei Technologies said it will “vigorously oppose” a US effort to disqualify its lead lawyer from defending the company in a lawsuit that accuses the Chinese tech giant of bank fraud and sanctions violations.
The US government is seeking to disqualify Huawei’s lead defence lawyer, James Cole – a former deputy US attorney general in the Obama administration – according to a filing on Thursday in US District Court in Brooklyn, New York.
In a letter to the court, prosecutors said they had filed a sealed, classified motion to disqualify Cole and expected to file a public version by May 10. The government did not make public why it is seeking to remove Cole.
A call requesting comment from Cole, a lawyer at Sidley Austin in Washington, was not immediately returned.
Huawei, in an emailed statement on Friday, said the firm chose 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,” it said.
“Huawei will vigorously oppose the government's motion.”