Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said Thursday that U.S. District Judge James Boasberg should be investigated and could face impeachment over a ruling that blocked the Pentagon from labeling a Chinese biotech company a “Chinese military company,” according to Newsmax.
Judge Boasberg, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, granted WuXi AppTec a preliminary injunction on Aug. 7 barring the Department of Defense from enforcing the designation while the company’s lawsuit proceeds. The judge found that defense officials had repeatedly misread the evidence used to justify the decision, writing in his opinion that customers and suppliers had canceled contracts, ended long-standing relationships or moved business to WuXi’s competitors after the designation took effect.
A legal analysis of the ruling found the Pentagon’s justification factually deficient on all three grounds it cited, including a claim about indirect ownership through a state-linked fund that the court called mistaken after concluding the government had confused a fund’s stock allocation with an actual ownership stake.
Mr. Giuliani argued on Newsmax’s “Carl Higbie FRONTLINE” that the courts have no standing to second-guess the Pentagon’s national security determinations.
“That ruling is entirely illegal and unconstitutional,” Mr. Giuliani said.
He said the Federal Bureau of Investigation should open an inquiry into the judge’s motives, suggesting without evidence that Judge Boasberg was acting to benefit China, and called on the administration to appeal the injunction to the Supreme Court.
Judge Boasberg, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, has drawn sustained criticism from the administration in a separate matter. He found probable cause last year to hold Trump officials in criminal contempt over deportation flights carried out under the Alien Enemies Act, but a divided D.C. Circuit panel ruled in April that Judge Boasberg could not proceed with the contempt effort, finding his continued investigation exceeded his authority. The majority called the inquiry a “clear abuse of discretion.”
The Pentagon added WuXi AppTec to its list of alleged Chinese military companies in June under Section 1260H of the National Defense Authorization Act. The designation also carries implications for the company’s status under the BIOSECURE Act, which restricts federal contracting with certain Chinese biotechnology firms.
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