TikTok is expected to launch a legal challenge as early as Monday against impeached U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order that prohibits transactions with the popular short video app and its China-based owner, ByteDance, reports Reuters late on Friday.
Trump issued an executive order on Aug. 14 that gave ByteDance 90 days to divest the U.S. operations of TikTok. ByteDance has been making progress in talks with potential acquirers, including Microsoft Corp and Oracle. Some of ByteDance's U.S. investors could also join the winning bid.
TikTok's legal challenge pertains to an earlier executive order, which Trump issued on Aug. 6, the sources said. That order directed the Secretary of Commerce to come up with a list of transactions involving ByteDance and its holdings that should be banned after 45 days.
TikTok plans to argue that the Aug. 6 executive order's reliance on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act deprives it of due process, according to the sources. TikTok will also contest its classification by the White House as a national security threat, the sources added.
It was not immediately clear which court TikTok plans to use to file its lawsuit. The company had previously said it was exploring its legal options, and its employees were also preparing their own lawsuit.
More at Reuters:
Exclusive: TikTok to challenge U.S. order banning transactions with the video app [reporting by Echo Wang, David Shepardson]
