How the death of two CIA agents in northern Mexico led to a treason case

MEXICO CITY -- The deaths of two CIA agents in April following an operation to dismantle a drug lab in northern Mexico have led to the unusual federal charge of “treason” against a former Chihuahua state attorney general. He is also accused in state court of “illegal exercise of public office.”The defendant, César Jáuregui, is being held in pretrial detention at a maximum-security prison for allegedly authorizing the agents’ participation in the operation. President Claudia Sheinbaum said her administration neither authorized it nor was informed of it.A state judge will determine Thursday whether to initiate the trial in Chihuahua courts on state charges. The federal judge will decide on Saturday — one week after his arrest — whether or not to indict him in the separate case for treason.The deaths of the U.S. officials in an opposition-led state fueled speculation about the scope of the Trump administration’s actions on Mexican soil. It also called into question Sheinbaum's strong defense of national sovereignty and her refusal to arrest a former governor from her own party accused of drug trafficking by the United States.According to Héctor Villasana, one of Jáuregui's defense att...