Lawyers for CFO Meng Wanzhou want her U.S. extradition case dismissed on grounds that Trump’s comments soon after her 2018 arrest in Canada meant she would not get a fair trial in the United States. They further argued that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and then-foreign affairs minister Chrystia Freeland had also waded into the debate, proving politicization of Meng’s case.
Meng, 49, was arrested on a U.S. warrant for bank fraud at Vancouver International Airport in December 2018 and has since been living under house arrest while fighting extradition. She faces charges of bank fraud in the United States over misleading HSBC about Huawei Technologies Co Ltd’s business dealings in Iran, causing the bank to violate U.S. sanctions. She has said she is innocent.
Ten days after Meng’s arrest, then-President Trump told Reuters in an interview that he would intervene in the case if it would help get a better trade deal with China. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-huawei-tech-exclusive/exclusive-trump-says-he-could-intervene-in-u-s-case-against-huawei-cfo-idUSKBN1OA2PQ
“With that utterance Ms. Meng became a bargaining chip in this economic contest…