Thread by @innercitypress

OK - Guo Wengui trial, Day 3, begins with Guo being asked if he and Bannon have a joint mission to get rid of radical cadre in CCP. Inner City Press is covering the case innercitypress.com/sdny6flimanguo… and will live tweet, thread below

Q: Mr Guo, were your Hong Kong assets frozen?
Guo: I'm invoking the Fifth Amendment.

Q: Do you agree that your assets were frozen not by CCP, but by High Court of Hong Kong?
Guo: I'm invoking the 5th Amendment.
Q: Is this case being run by Golden Spring New York?
Guo: I'm invoking the 5th Amendment.

Q: Mr. Guo, did you sue Mr. Hong Quan Li (sp) in the District Court in Maryland?
Guo: Yes.
Q: And did you file an affidavit?
Guo: I'm invoking the 5th Amendment.
Lawyer: Your Honor, I don't think the 5th applies to public filings.
Judge Liman: A proffer?

Now Guo: I don't to go into that, but if you have a question, I'll answer it.
Q: Did it cost you business in Hong Kong and on the mainland?
Guo: I'm invoking the Fifth Amendment.

Q: Mr. Guo, you testified you applied for asylum.
Guo: Yes.
Q: Han assisted you with the application, correct?
Guo: I don't understand.
Q: Did he advise you? Work on the application?
Guo: It is hard to say. Not in front of me.

Q: Mr. Guo, who is the internal lawyer you are referring to?
Guo: They are not here.
Q: What is their name?
Guo: It was Daniel... He was Golden Spring's lawyer.
Judge Liman: He told you about Ms. Cline?
Guo: Yes.
Q: Who does he answer to?
Guo: Golden Spring.

Q: Mr. Guo, you arranged the wires of $1 million to Strategic Vision?
Guo: I'm invoking the 5th Amendment.
Q: This is not a good faith invocation of the 5th Amendment. Golden Spring NY's lawyer advises Mr Guo about this case. What's the criminal matter?

Q: Mr. Guo, do you recall hearing from Ms Yvette Wong that Strategic Vision had not found sufficient information on the 15 subjects?
Guo: I did not get any info at all.
Q: Did Strategic Vision ask for new names?
Guo: I don't remember.

Q: Yesterday's witness Mr. Han, does he cook for you?
Guo: In China, a man cooking, it is a virtue.
Q: How is he the boss of Eastern Profit? Have you talked to your daughter about it?
Guo: No. I see her very rarely.
Q: She is in the US?
Guo: Yes.

Q: Who is William Je?
Guo: I invoke the 5th Amendment.
[After a time, relents] He is probably the head of ACA.
Q: Does he sent money when you ask him?
Guo: I am invoking the 5th Amendment.

Judge Liman is back. He says that he has heard portions of this morning's proceedings on YouTube. He is asking the U.S. Marshals to investigate, for civil contempt. He has it interpreted into Chinese.
He asks counsel if they know anything about it.
They say No.

Q: Mr. Guo, is Golden Spring paying for that lawyer next to you, Mr. Klein with a K?
Guo: I am invoking the 5th Amendment.

Q: Mr. Guo, you have attempted to influence this trial?
Guo: I am only a witness.
Q: Mr. Guo, have you paid anyone to stand outside the courthouse?
Guo: Fifth Amendment.
Q: Mr. Guo, have you paid anyone to sit in this courtroom?
Guo: Fifth Amendment.

Q: You say you get information about the CCP. Do you share it with the US FBI, had you before August 2019?
Guo: I cannot be certain what month we have met. I was requested by FBI to not say (when) we met. They said to say it would be bad for my family.

Now they play Guo's August 2019 deposition, in which Guo says he doesn't remember if he'd ever said he had contacts with the CIA.
Q: What that truthful?
Guo: It was at the request that the CIA told me not to say.

Judge Liman: We'll take our lunch break now, to 1:55. Be sure you're ready.
Thread will continue.

And we're back - same answers, it seems:
Q: Mr. Guo, do you live in the Sherry Netherland Hotel?
Guo: I invoke my privilege under the 5th Amendment.

Q: Mr. Guo, is it true that video recording in your apartment, that you did not make, appeared on the Internet?
Guo: It was at the very beginning, on some Twitter from the CCP, in China.

Q: You received a subpoena for all video or audio of your meetings with Chinese officials, but did not provide this one?
Guo: I don't know where that video is now. I have never seen it all the way through.

Q: Is that the video where you say Chinese officials tried to kidnap you and take you back to China?
Guo: We met for many hours. That was just a little bit of what happened. They said they have a lot of resources and organizations in the US that can have me killed

Q: Isn't it true that during this meeting, your wife made dumplings for the Chinese officials?
Guo: Yes.
Q: Then you walked the group out of the building.
Guo: I did.

Judge Liman: Please explain how he can invoke the 5th Amendment when Strategic's counsel ask about a transcript Mr. Guo has already adopted?
Mr. Klein: He said, my name is there. He did not say, I said that.
Judge Liman: He was represented by counsel, by you.

Mr Klein: He was answering on another topic, we're invoking only as to certain topic areas. He can confirm it is on the page. I view it as tethering to certain topical areas.
Judge Liman: Let me explore the limits of your invocation...

Judge Liman: We'll leave it open, and if I determine there is no good faith invocation, we'll come back.
Q: Mr. Guo, you said, "I will not make any decisions before the 19th National Congress." That's what you said to Mr Ping, no?
Guo: I was repeating what I said

Q: You said, I am not against the Party, neither have I said I am for the Party, right?
Guo: That is different than what I said. They wanted me to say I am for the CCP. I refused.

Q: Mr. Guo, have you attacked Mr. Bob Fu online?
Guo: I have never attacked anyone. There were a million online attacking me. Why would I retaliate against all of them. It is the strategy of the CCP, unrestricted warfare.

Q: Mr. Guo, have you encouraged your followed to harass Sasha Gong?
Guo: Absolutely impossible.
Q: Have you accused Sasha Gong of being a Communist spy?
Guo: It was after she called me a spy. Then I retaliate.
Q: Bob Fu is a pastor?
Guo: No, a CCP member.

Q: Mr Guo, isn't a large part of your work attacking dissidents in this country?
Guo: This is purely a lie. 99% of my time is against the CCP, exposing them, their deeds in Xinjiang, Tibet, exposing the truth about the virus...

Q: Mr. Guo, you said you wanted to go back to China after showing merit
Guo: I don't recall that.
Q: You wanted to get research and evidence to take out one faction of the CCP, correct?
Guo: Absolutely impossible

Judge Liman: We'll take our break. How much re-direct of Mr. Guo?
A: 15 minutes.
Judge Liman: Then we'll have our last witness.
[Sasha Gong?]
thread will continue.

Re-direct:
Q: What do you think of the allegation you are not a dissident?
Guo: If I weren't they would not need to spend so much money on Broidy and Bruno Wu.
No further questions.
Judge Liman: Mr Guo, you may go.
Now a witness being brought in... drum roll.

"Your Honor, defendants call Sasha Gong."
She gets sworn in.
Q: What is your profession?
Sasha Gong: Journalist, scholar, and now film maker.
Q: Do you know Guo Wengui?
Sasha Gong: Yes, I interviewed him. On April 19, 2017.

Q: Did you join the board of a Guo entity?
Sasha Gong: Yes. The Rule of Law.
Q: Where were you born?
Sasha Gong: Beijing, 1956. My family was persecuted. I have two great grandfathers who came to the US as railroad workers, then sent back and called US agents.

Sasha Gong: I was imprisoned 1977 to 1978 for anti-government speech. I was turned into a peasant and a factory worker. Then the political situation changed and I went to Beijing University. I came to the US, then to Ph.D program at Harvard. Now I am a citizen

Q: Have you stayed in contact with dissidents?
Sasha Gong: Yes. But as a journalist I kept a little distance.
Q: Do you know Bob Fu?
Sasha Gong: Yes. He escape from China and is a pastor here. He started China Aid, to help Christian escape dictatorship.

Q: What's the country code for China?
Sasha Gong: 86.
Q: And what's qq.com?
Sasha Gong: It's owned by TenCent, entirely controlled by China government.
Q: Would any true dissident use it?
Sasha Gong: No, unless they want to commit suicide.

Objection! Ms. Gong was not accepted as an expert witness.
A: It's lay opinion.
Judge Liman: I'll accept it subject to a motion to strike.
Q: Did Guo request an interview with VOA?
Sasha Gong: Yes. And he asked for me, in person.

Q: Where did you speak?
Sasha Gong: At Sherry Netherland. Before the interview, CCP summoned VOA's Beijing correspondent. And said, if we do it, the relationship will be harmed. And China's DC embassy called us every 5 minutes. They issued a red notice on Guo

Q: What Guo came back from that phone call, how did he appear?
Sasha Gong: He looked happy. He said he spoke with a government official.

Q: Did Mr Guo introduce you to William Je?
Sasha Gong: Yes. About Rule of Law Foundation.
Q: Did you go to lunch at Guo's apartment?
Sasha Gong: Yes. Mr. Bannon was there.

Sasha Gong: I spoke to William Je in Cantonese, my mother tongue. He said he is in investment banking industry, and works with Chinese government at provincial level.
Objection! Hearsay!

Q: Did Mr Guo eventually begin to criticize you?
Sasha Gong: Yes, after I resigned from the board of Rule of Law Society in 2019. Guo began to attack me on their YouTube channel. He said I slept with a lot of men.

Q: Have you seen Guo making threats against others?
Sasha Gong: Let me spell it: Chen Guang Chen. Guo said he was not a real dissident. He did the same with Bob Fu, Guo said he was a CCP spy, that he deserve to be wiped out.

Sasha Gong: His people demonstrated in front of Bob Fu's house for six years, until he had to move out.
Q: Has he threatened you?
Sasha Gong: On Monday, he broadcast that I am a spy.

Cross examination:
Q: You agree Chinese politics are complicated?
Sasha Gong: All politics are complicated.

Q: Here's your article in something called the Daily Caller... And here you're writing about emails of Mr Broidy.. You wrote that the UAE might be involved in extraditing Guo, for getting its $3 billion back
Sasha Gong: Those are not my words

Q: You're aware Mr. Broidy was indicted --
Objection!
Judge Liman: Sustained.
Sasha Gong: I thought he was indicted for not registering under FARA. I did not read his plea

Q: But you're interested in Chinese -American politics?
Sasha Gong: That's Malaysia politics.

Q: You wrote that Guo worked with Chinese intelligence and funded their investigations overseas - but you supported his asylum application?
Sasha Gong: Yes.
Q: You wrote he created a We-Media, true?
Sasha Gong: Yes, still true.

Q: You say Mr Guo's social media accounts were suspended because of PRC bots' complaints?
Sasha Gong: I believed at the time. Mine was taken down one night, then resumed.

Re-direct:
Sasha Gong: I now believe Guo has become a dissident hunter. I wrote to FBI & reported it.
No further questions.
Judge Liman: Ms Gong, you are excused with the thanks for the court. Now what about Yvette Wang, the open questions?
Strategic: We're OK.

Note: the lawyers are going over exhibits. The Strategic lawyers have already said they're flying back to Kansas City tomorrow. So this trial, at least the evidence part, is at an end. Closing arguments will be at another time- & Inner City Press aims to cover it.

Judge Liman, on Yvette Wang: This witness has serious credibility issues. But if you want to try for few minutes.
A: No, your Honor, we're done.
Stories later on InnerCityPress.com and patreon.com/posts/50233009