SDNY Prosecutor Has Close Ties to the Chinese Communist Party

Miles Guo’s case has been paid worldwide attention, and the background of the prosecutor in charge of his case has been brought to the public attention as well. It is reported that the attorney of the Southern District of New York (SDNY) Damian Williams who was in charge of the case, began his legal career as a law clerk to Judge Merrick Garland of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 2007 to 2008. And it is known that Garland is the current U.S. attorney general.

On August 10, 2021, President Biden nominated Williams to be the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. From 2009 to 2012, Williams was a litigation associate at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. Paul, Weiss is an American law firm with more than 1,000 lawyers and offices in Beijing and Hong Kong.

It is well known that law firms wanting to do business in China need to establish an extensive network of cooperation with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). At the same time, its HK-based affiliate played a key role in helping many CCP-linked companies, such as Xiaomi, Meituan, Ourgame, and Rundong to go public in the U.S. Can such a prosecutor with a background of cooperation with Communist China represent justice in a conflict of interest? We will keep you updated on this matter.