Mnuchin rolls back Trump's 'treason' threat: No concerns over Google-China ties
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says there are no “concerns” in ties between Google and China despite a threat from President Donald Trump to probe the company for “treason.”
Mnuchin told CNBC on Wednesday that the two had come to the conclusion that there is no need to worry after “diligence” regarding the matter.
“The president and I did diligence on this issue and we’re not aware of any areas where Google is working with the Chinese government that in any way raises concerns,” he said. “Google is an American company that wants to help out the US.”
After defending Google, Mnuchin singled out Amazon, saying it has "destroyed the retail industry across the United States."
Peter Thiel, a prominent Trump booster and Facebook board member, initially accused Google of treason, prompting a response from the president.
Thiel accused Google of engaging in the “seemingly treasonous decision to work with the Chinese military and not with the US military."
Last week, Trump described Thiel’s comments as a "very strong charge," urging "various agencies, including perhaps our attorney general" to look into the matter for treason.
But Trump and Mnuchin sat down with Google CEO Sundar Pichai this week, from which the treasury secretary learned that the company does "very minimal" work in China, limited to "open-source" efforts.
China and the United States have been embroiled in trade tensions marked by tit-for-tat tariffs.
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