The US Department of Justice has accused two people it believes to be Chinese state agents of paying an FBI double agent to get information about the Huawei probe.
The two individuals are accused of attempting to influence a US government employee who they thought was a cooperator to disclose sensitive information regarding the Justice Department’s investigation, including details about prospective witnesses, trial evidence, and additional charges that may be brought.
According to the Justice Department, one of the defendants paid nearly $61,000 in digital currency for the data. However, the individual they attempted to bribe was an FBI double agent. The double agent gave the Chinese operatives certain documents that seemed to contain some of the material they were looking for, but the documents were created by the Justice Department and did not disclose factual meetings or trial tactics.
Although the department has filed arrest warrants for the men, it is unclear whether they will be detained. Huawei was not identified as having been a part of the attempted bribery in the relevant US Department of Justice papers. Huawei and the Chinese Embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.
