Ex-Mexican attorney general could face treason case over deaths of two US embassy officials working for CIA

A former Mexican state attorney general could face trial for treason over accusations that he illegally launched a joint operation with the CIA without telling the federal government.The operation to dismantle a drug lab in the state of Chihuahua in northern Mexico in April drew attention after two CIA agents and two state officials died in a car accident on their way back.That raised questions about the Trump administration’s actions on Mexican soil, and outraged President Claudia Sheinbaum, who has made a strong defense of national sovereignty a centerpiece of her administration.The state district attorney, César Jáuregui, resigned, saying he wanted to clear the way for an inquiry into the operation.He was arrested Oct.17 on state charges of illegal exercise of public office, which a judge ruled Thursday can go to trial.Federal officials later added the treason charge, and a federal judge will decide Saturday whether to allow the indictment.Mexico has long worked with the US in its fight against organized crime, but that’s caused fears at times that American agencies do not respect the country’s sovereignty.Sheinbaum and her predecessor Andrés Manuel López Obrador have made legal changes that aimed to stop foreign agencies from operating in Mexico without the federal government’s consent.Jáuregui is being held in pretrial detention at a maximum-security prison.Héctor Villasana, one of Jáuregui’s defense attorneys, said federal prosecutors told the court in a closed hearing this week that they were seeking an exemplary punishment to prevent a situation like the United States’ removal of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.The US State Department told The Associated Press that it is aware and watching Jáuregui’s case but didn’t make a link between the case and the CIA deaths.Here’s how a traffic accident in the mountains of Chihuahua led to a charge of treason — a crime Mexico has not successfully brought to trial in decades despite one...