Chinese tech giant challenges Department of Defense designation

Alibaba is suing the Department of Defense over its designation as a Chinese military company and over a subsequent federal statute barring the Pentagon from contracting with any firm that hires a lobbyist also working for a blacklisted Chinese company. The company says it went from two dozen U.S. lobbyists to zero once the law passed, and argues the statute violates its First Amendment rights by making lobbyists choose between Alibaba and thousands of other, non-blacklisted clients.

At a hearing on Alibaba's request for a preliminary injunction, U.S. District Judge Eumi Lee pressed the government on whether it had shown any actual evidence of the espionage risk the law is meant to prevent, calling the record 'thin.' A Justice Department attorney conceded a congressional act does not outweigh a constitutional right, but argued it should be 'given consideration.'

Lee took the matter under submission without tipping her hand, leaving Alibaba's lobbying roster, and the law's constitutionality, in limbo.

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