Two men held in a U.S. jail on charges of engineering ex-Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn’s escape from Tokyo are trying to use political influence to win bail and avoid extradition to Japan.
Lawyers and lobbyists for former Green Beret Michael Taylor and his son Peter have pressed their case before the U.S. Justice Department and State Department, as well as lawmakers in Congress, according to lobbying disclosure forms and four people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity to discuss a politically sensitive matter.
The Taylors have been jailed outside Boston since mid-May, when U.S. authorities arrested them at the request of the Japanese government. While it’s unusual for Americans wanted by other countries to wage a wide-ranging lobbying campaign in Washington, the Taylors’ effort comes as the Trump administration shows a willingness to depart from standard practice in a handful of high-profile criminal cases.