Charles Lieber, chosen as chairman of Harvard’s chemistry and chemical biology department and seen by some as a potential Nobel Prize winner, was found guilty by a jury of lying to the federal government yesterday afternoon.

Apparently, Dr. Lieber partnered with a “lesser-known Chinese university”, according to The New York Times. Wait…what university was this again? View on:

Ahh, yes, The Wuhan University of Technology (WUT). Say it, NYT. The university is in freaking Wuhan! (They do mention this further down in order to bury this little detail in their story.) Dr. Charles Lieber, according to attorney, Peter Zeidenberg, was “afraid” to admit he was a part of China’s Thousand Talents Plan. And, we’re sure, he was also afraid to admit that he was tied to anything in Wuhan.

The reason people like Lieber lie is because they are afraid,” he said. “It’s really sad. They are afraid to answer truthfully, ‘Are you a member of the talent program?’ I’m sure in the Red Scare, people said they were not a member of the Communist Party.”-Peter Zeidenberg

And while Lying Lieber was “afraid” that he would be tied to Communist China, he kept his earnings from being a part of the program hush-hush and parked some of the money in an account in China, so he would not have to report any earnings and, subsequently, pay taxes. I can see some Harvard poli-sci hippie now whining about taxing the rich.

The decision in Lieber’s case is a victory for the China Initiative, “an effort launched in 2018, under the Trump administration” (as The New York Times states), to “root out scientists suspected of sharing sensitive information with China”.

Lieber’s defense? The Wuhan University of Technology had (and still has, don’t ya know) money to spend. And, oh, boy, did he want that Nobel Prize. Alas, Charles Lieber was seduced. Wooed by Wuhan, if you will.

…that’s one of the things China uses to try to seduce people.”-Dr. Charles Lieber

And the seduction for ol’ Chuck the Scientist was real. A three-year Thousand Talents contract scored Charles Lieber a $50,000-a month check from the Wuhan University of Technology, up to $158,000 in living expenses and more than $1.5 million in grants, according to prosecutors.

According to court documents, since 2008, Dr. Lieber served as the Principal Investigator of the Lieber Research Group at Harvard University where he received more than $15,000,000 in grant funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Department of Defense (DOD). These grants require the disclosure of significant foreign financial conflicts of interest, including financial support from foreign governments or foreign entities. And although Lieber denied involvement with China, the Wuhan University of Technology started using Harvard’s name in connection with its nanotechnology laboratory. Coincidence? We think not.

Don’t worry, though, the “fact checkers” have already debunked the conspiracy theory that Dr. Charles Lieber sold the Coronavirus to the Chinese. I mean, even the Harvard Crimson defends this:

A growing body of scientific evidence suggests the novel coronavirus originated in nature, without data to the contrary.”-The Harvard Crimson

Yeah, from nature. Like from eating raw bats at a wet market or something, right?

Scientists from multiple countries have published and analysed genomes of the causative agent, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), and they overwhelmingly conclude that this coronavirus originated in wildlife. Conspiracy theories do nothing but create fear, rumours, and prejudice that jeopardise our global collaboration in the fight against this virus.”-The Lancet

The “growing body of scientific evidence” also states the vaccinated don’t get COVID never, ever, ever again. Except, they do.

While I am not one to hop on the conspiracy train, overwhelmingly conclude this, then. The Wuhan University of Technology paid Charles Lieber $50,000 a month for three years for what, exactly? He may not have been singlehandedly responsible in the push to make COVID and its variants part of the living nightmare we have all been a part of over these past two years but what, exactly, were they paying him $50,000 a month for? Inquiring minds want to know. Are you ready for this one? Apparently, the Chinese government was paying Charles Lieber to do “battery research” for vehicles-something that was not this “Superstar of Science”‘s specialty.

In Lieber’s case, however, the battery angle poses a puzzle. That’s because a search of the titles of Lieber’s more than 400 papers and more than 75 U.S. and Chinese patents reveals no mentions of ‘battery,’ ‘batteries,’ ‘vehicle,’ or ‘vehicles.'”-Science.org

The things that make you go, “hmmmm”. The irony that the first three letters of this man’s last name are L-i-e is not lost on me. But we’re to “trust the science” and blindly place faith in the scientific communities from our Ivys to do studies in nanotechnology and, to add a nod to Dr. Anthony Fauci into the Wuhan mix here, gain-of-function research all while creating their own brand of fear, rumors and prejudice amongst Americans?

This is embarrassing. Every scientist wants to win a Nobel Prize.”-Dr. Charles Lieber

Cry me the Charles River, Charlie! So is taking brown paper bags full of cash on international flights from Communist countries and socking them under your mattress, Doc. Especially when you get caught.

Photo Credit: Kris Snibbe/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 4.0