DOJ to retry Chinese professor; acquittal sought

Supporters of Anming Hu protest government plan for a retrial.

Federal prosecutors announced July 30 that they intend to retry former University of Tennessee professor Anming Hu, just weeks after jurors deadlocked in the first trial over claims that Hu hid ties to China.

A judge had ordered the U.S. government to provide an update indicating whether it would retry Hu by July 30. Hu was initially charged in February 2020 with federal counts of wire fraud and an FBI agent reportedly admitted to baselessly accusing the former professor of espionage during the trial.

“We are deeply disappointed by the federal government’s decision to retry Professor Hu,” said OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates’ National President Linda Ng. “The original trial laid bare the misguided and systemic efforts to strip Asian Americans and Asian immigrants of their civil liberties and shows the entrenched anti-Asian sentiment rampant among some members of law enforcement. And more importantly, it incurred a high emotional and financial toll on Hu and his family.”

“The federal government must understand how harmful this initiative is to both the targeted professors and the greater Asian American community,” said OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates’ Deputy Executive Director Thu Nguyen. “Not only is the rhetoric around the ‘China Initiative’ perpetuating anti-Asian sentiments, stereotypes, and hate incidents, it destroys the careers of those targeted.”

After the government made its announcement, defense attorney Philip Lomonaco filed a renewed motion for judgment of acquittal, which was originally filed on June 11, 2021. The motion for acquittal was made because "the evidence was insufficient to sustain a conviction. There is no evidence that Professor Hu willfully intended to deceive NASA... Without the intent to deceive there can be no wire fraud conviction. Without the convictions for wire fraud, the remaining counts would fail as well... In the alternative, Defendant would rely on previous briefings to the Court regarding the lack of intent to harm NASA as being a defense to wire fraud as well."

Nearly 100 members of Congress, led by Rep. Ted Lieu, sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland expressing concerns over potential misconduct in the Hu case and urged for an investigation into the U.S. Department of Justice’s “wrongful targeting of individuals of Asian descent.”

“What the federal government has done today is to confirm an utter disregard for justice and our democracy. This trial has exposed the deeply problematic investigations, surveillance, and prosecutions of Asian Americans and Asian immigrants," the Advancing Justice | AAJC said in a statement.

University of Tennessee Professor Anming Hu 

Reps. Jamie Raskin, D-MD, and Judy Chu, D-CA, convened a virtual “roundtable” in  June to discuss the implications of the China Initiative for Chinese American researchers. 

While the lawmakers conceded the need to combat foreign espionage, they cited the number of cases the DOJ dropped because of lack of evidence.

During the roundtable, Chu, chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, argued that the China said, “Whereas most investigations start with a crime and then find a suspect, this initiative starts with a suspect and then searches for a crime,” adding, “Just family ties to China or even professionally encouraged research and collaboration is enough to trigger an investigation,” according to an article published by the American Institute of Physics.

Raskin apointed out it has been common for cases against Chinese researchers to fall apart, spotlighting a few prominent instances, such as the case leveled against Los Alamos National Lab scientist Wen Ho Lee in the late 1990s. 

In addition, the AIP article said Raskin criticized DOJ’s recent focus on nondisclosure of ties to China, asserting that federal requirements are an “inconsistent jumble of ever-changing, ever-mutating guidance, making it difficult for scientists to avoid getting caught up in the FBI’s web.”

The DOJ asserts that it does not premise investigations on ethnic background and that lying about sources of support is a crime against the integrity of research. 

Criticism from members of Congress and community advocates such as OCA adds to a growing protest among community groups, researchers, and some university leaders that enforcement actions have been overzealous and are causing serious harms.

More than 200 researchers rallied around MIT nanotechnologist Gang Chen after he was indicted in January on charges related to nondisclosure of funding and affiliations. 

Despite the growing chorus of critics, the Biden administration has not stated their position on the China Initiative. There is some hope among Democratic lawmakers  that the DOJ would create an amnesty program as an alternative to prosecution.