Lawyers with Jones Day, which is representing the Chinese telecom giant Huawei, confirmed late Wednesday that the company is filing a petition for review after the Federal Communications Commission designated Huawei a national security threat.

The petition was filed Wednesday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit because Huawei's American base is in Texas, Jones Day partner Michael Carvin said. Huawei is asking the court to vacate the FCC rule, which prohibits small American carriers from using federal subsidies to purchase Huawei equipment.

Huawei officials and Jones Day partner Glen Nager held a press conference at Huawei's campus in Shenzhen, China, to discuss the filing, which is one of several legal battles Huawei is waging in the United States.

The FCC has no authority or expertise in national security and should defer those matters to the executive branch, Nager said. The FCC said Huawei and another Chinese telecom company, ZTE, pose threats to the "integrity of communications networks or the communications supply chain."

A spokesman for the FCC declined to comment Thursday morning.

Carvin said the FCC rule is part of "a smear campaign for targeting and burdening" Huawei and  ZTE. He said he believes those two companies were singled out because they've been targeted by Congress.

Huawei Chief Legal Officer Song Liuping said the FCC commissioners allowed themselves to be influenced by political concerns, rather than actual security issues.

"We are willing to work together with the United States government to prove the security of our product and service," Liuping said.

In a video played at the press conference, leaders of three rural American telecom companies praised Huawei and the services it has brought to their communities, where some people lacked reliable internet or cell service before. Liuping said it's important to trust rural providers.

"These politicians ignore an important fact," he said. "Huawei has been working with rural U.S. carriers for many years, and our customers trust our equipment. They are experts in the security of their own networks, and they like working with us."

Huawei also plans to argue that the FCC rule was unlawfully vague and violated the company's right to due process, according to the Jones Day attorneys.

Carvin said the rule seemed to come out of nowhere, even though the FCC is supposed to have a transparent rulemaking process. Rather than presenting actual evidence, he said, commissioners seemed to be relying on rumors and references to alleged classified information.

"We feel like we're boxing with shadows," he said.

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