Trump has authority to pardon Huawei CFO to close China trade deal: Judge Napolitano

President Trump said on Tuesday, he would intervene in the Department Justice’s case against a high ranking executive at Huawei Technologies, if it would help advance trade talks with China.

“We always have to balance American interest,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” Wednesday. “Anytime there is a law enforcement engagement we need to make sure we take foreign policy considerations into effect.”

Fox News senior judicial analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano said Trump has the authority to intervene in the case of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou.

“Under the Constitution the president and only the president has the authority to make the balance that Secretary Pompeo was talking about,” he told FOX Business’ David Asman.

Wanzhou, 46, was arrested in Vancouver, Canada on Dec. 1, where she spent 10 days in jail. She was released after posting bail of 10 million Canadian dollars ($7.5 million) and faces a legal battle over extradition to the U.S.

She was arrested by Canadian authorities as part of an U.S. investigation into an alleged scheme by Huawei to use a global banking institution to make illegal transactions involving Iran.

Napolitano said Trump has the authority to pardon, but will instead request acting U.S. Attorney General Matthew Whitaker to drop the case.

“[Trump] can also say to Matt Whittaker…’drop that case against her. We have bigger fish to fry,’” he said. “The Bush people and the Obama people should have done that. We have different sanctions in place now.”

Napolitano said he discovered that the prosecutors in Canada told the Canadian judge that the U.S. want to charge the top Huawei executive with bank fraud after reading the Canadian court documents.

“The question is are they going to actually prosecute her or they are going to drop this so they can cut a deal with China,” he said.