New York, NY (November 10, 2022) – Committee of 100, a non-profit organization of prominent Chinese Americans, today sent a letter to the United States Senate Judiciary Committee to express deep concerns over the nomination of Mr. Casey Arrowood to serve as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee.
The letter asks the Senate Judiciary Committee to fully investigate Mr. Arrowood’s involvement in decisions to prosecute and then retry the United States government’s case against Dr. Anming Hu, a Chinese Canadian professor and nanotechnology expert at University of Tennessee at Knoxville. Mr. Arrowood was the lead prosecutor in the ill-conceived and factually erroneous case as part of the Department of Justice’s China Initiative, which targeted primarily American researchers of Chinese descent.
Committee of 100 is urging Senate Judiciary to further investigate Mr. Arrowood’s role in these Department of Justice decisions before voting on his confirmation. During the trial, it was discovered that FBI agents had engaged in misconduct, yet withstanding the misconduct, the Justice Department sought to retry the case. U.S. District Judge Thomas Varlan said in dismissing the case and acquitting Dr. Hu that his review of the facts showed the government hadn’t met its burden of proof and that ‘there was no evidence presented that the defendant ever collaborated with a Chinese university in conducting NASA-funded research, or used facilities, equipment or funds from a Chinese university in the course of such research.’
“We take seriously the need to safeguard our nation’s confidential research, but we are gravely concerned that an unbalanced government effort in the name of research integrity and national security has led and continues to lead to the unjustified targeting of scholars of Chinese ancestry,” said Gary Locke, current Chair of Committee of 100, former Governor of the State of Washington, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce, and former U.S. Ambassador to China. “Mr. Arrowood’s role in U.S. versus Hu leads us to question whether the Asian American community can trust that he will apply the law in a fair and just manner that does not discriminate against individuals because of their race, color, or national origin.”
“The China Initiative has had chilling effects on U.S. academic research and exchange and unjustly targeted American researchers of Chinese descent,” said Zhengyu Huang, President of Committee of 100. “The China Initiative had ruined the lives of innocent Americans and hurts America’s ability to compete and lead in scientific research and innovation. Even when cases are dismissed, academics have had their lives, careers, and health damaged. Committee of 100 strongly supports protecting our national security, but not at the expense of our cherished civil liberties.”
The full letter to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary can be found on Committee of 100’s website here.
About Committee of 100
Committee of 100 is a non-profit U.S. leadership organization of prominent Chinese Americans in business, government, academia, healthcare, and the arts focused on public policy engagement, civic engagement, and philanthropy. For over 30 years, Committee of 100 has served as the preeminent organization committed to the dual missions of promoting the full participation of Chinese Americans in all aspects of American life and constructive relations between the United States and Greater China. Visit https://www.committee100.org/ or follow Committee of 100 on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for more information.
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Contact:
Charles Zinkowski
Sr. Director of Marketing & Communications
Committee of 100
czinkowski@committee100.org
