Huawei’s latest advocate? An Obama cybersecurity official

Washington has repeatedly warned about Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei citing its ties to the Chinese government as a security risk. Now, Huawei is trying to convince the government that it is not, in fact, a risk and should not be targeted by law enforcement or burdensome regulations. In that public relations fight, the Shenzhen-based company recently scored a hard-hitting advocate: Samir Jain, a former Obama administration cybersecurity official.

Jain, who previously served as a National Security Council senior director for cybersecurity policy as well as a former associate deputy attorney general, notified Congress at the end of March that he had a new gig: lobbying for Huawei.