WASHINGTON (JTA) — The plaintiffs in a terrorism money-laundering case against the Bank of China can subpoena former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, a federal court ruled.
Cantor, who resigned from Congress in August shortly after his defeat in a Republican primary election in Virginia, will be deposed Sept. 30, as ordered by the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York, the New York Observer reported Monday.
Nitsana Darshan Leitner, a lawyer for one of the plaintiffs, told the Observer that she wanted Cantor’s testimony because in 2013, he had discussed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Israel’s refusal to allow a former Israeli intelligence official to testify in the case.
Uzi Shaya, the former intelligence official, according to reports alerted Chinese security officials in 2005 to suspicious transactions, including transfers of money to terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
Israel says if Shaya is forced to testify, he could reveal state secrets.
Cantor’s cousin is Daniel Wultz, an American teenager killed in a 2006 suicide bombing in Tel Aviv.
The Wultzes are one of 23 families filing lawsuits accusing the Bank of China of funding terrorist organizations through U.S. accounts. Darshan Leitner is representing the family of another victim, Emil Almaliakh.
