It's Monday and I'm back at the Moakley courthouse in Boston for the #LieberTrial. Proceedings should begin at 9 am EST when defense attorney Marc Mukasey will resume cross-examination of FBI special agent Kara Spice.
Mukasey is asking Spice about the unsigned contract that is supposed to have come from the Thousand Talents Program. She says she has never seen an executed copy of the document.
The FBI took a photo of Chinese noodles from the Lieber home.
Assistant US attorney Jason Casey is now asking Spice questions redirect. He is asking about emails from Lieber and people at WUT regarding payments.
On re-cross Mukasey asks Spice if she knows if Liqiang Mai was authorized to act on behalf of Wuhan University of Technology or Thousand Talents Program. She says no.
Now, Assistant US attorney JR Drabick is questioning Amy Mousseau, a special agent with DCIS who investigates fraud for the US Department of Defense.
DCIS was wondering if Lieber was "double-dipping" with grant funding from DoD and a foreign entity.
Mousseau is testifying about the April 24, 2018 interview when Lieber allegedly made false statements about his involvement with the Thousand Talents Program. During the interview, Lieber said he did not know how China classified him.
Mukasey on cross-examination says DCIS became interested in Lieber, in part, because of all the Chinese students working in his lab.
Mousseau tells Mukasey that she did not tell Lieber beforehand that she was going to ask about the Thousand Talents Program during the interview because she wanted to get a "genuine reaction" from him.
Mukasey points out that notes from the interview do not say anywhere that Lieber denied participating in the Thousand Talents Program.
Now NIH's Michael Lauer, deputy director for extramural research, is testifying
Lauer is describing NIH's grant funding process.
When asked if all of the applications for grants are funded, Lauer says it's "not even close" - which surprises none of you readers, I'm sure.
Lauer said FBI brought Lieber's name (along with others) to NIH's attention with regard to the Thousand Talents Program.
Court is taking a short recess
We're back and Lauer is testifying about the letter NIH sent to Harvard in 2018 about possible conflicts with funding.
Lauer said if NIH knew Lieber had been part of the Thousand Talents Program, even in the past, they may have restricted his grants.
Now defense attorney Torrey Young is cross-examining Lauer. He has said there are no prohibitions on collaborations with China.
Now Carl Goodman, a CPA in Massachusetts, is testifying. Lieber was a client of his starting in 2005.
Goodman had never met Lieber and mostly corresponded with his wife.
Goodman prepared the Liebers' 2013 taxes
In 2013, in addition to his salary from Harvard, Lieber earned ~$45K for consulting and $50K for being an editor for an ACS journal. Goodman says Lieber did not report any income from WUT.
I think that was $50K, might have been $15K - apologies if I got it wrong.
I'm seeing the 2014 return and it is $50K for work with ACS Journals
Deist points out that in 2015 Lieber did report income from China.
Deist is one of Lieber's defense attorneys.
Now Colleen Ranahan, a revenue agent in the IRS's special enforcement program, is testifying.
She says you need to report foreign income in a foreign bank account to the IRS
Ranahan estimates that if Lieber had made an extra $20K in foreign income in 2013, he would have owed an additional $7,600 in taxes. If he had made an extra $40K in foreign income in 2014, he would have owed an additional $15,200 in taxes.
These are hypothetical calculations, btw.
On cross examination, Deist is asking about the foreign tax credit, where if you pay tax in a foreign country you don't also pay tax in the US.
There was a fire alarm (probably a drill) and court is now in recess for the day
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