FBI and DOJ Drop Case Against Chinese-American Physicist 113
Required Snark writes: The FBI and Department of Justice have withdrawn their prosecution (or more accurately persecution) Dr. Xi Xiaoxing, former head of the Physics Department at Temple University, according to the New York Times. He was accused of attempting to transfer technology about a "pocket heater" to China. It is used in superconducting research.
The case fell apart because the evidence that the FBI had was not about a pocket heater. "In a sworn affidavit, one engineer, Ward S. Ruby, said he was uniquely qualified to identify a pocket heater. 'I am very familiar with this device, as I was one of the co-inventors,' he said." Apparently nobody in the FBI or DOJ bothered to verify that the information referred to the device in question: "Dr. Xi's lawyer, Peter Zeidenberg, said that despite the complexity, it appeared that the government never consulted with experts before taking the case to a grand jury. As a result, prosecutors misconstrued the evidence, he said."
Dr Xi was forced to step down from his position as the head of the department during the investigation. He was unable to work on his ongoing experiments and was branded a spy. What are the odds that anyone at the FBI or DOJ will face any personal or professional repercussions? If recent history is any guide they will not even issue a statement. When the case was withdrawn the option to refile was retained, a blatant attempt to save face and deny responsibility.
The case fell apart because the evidence that the FBI had was not about a pocket heater. "In a sworn affidavit, one engineer, Ward S. Ruby, said he was uniquely qualified to identify a pocket heater. 'I am very familiar with this device, as I was one of the co-inventors,' he said." Apparently nobody in the FBI or DOJ bothered to verify that the information referred to the device in question: "Dr. Xi's lawyer, Peter Zeidenberg, said that despite the complexity, it appeared that the government never consulted with experts before taking the case to a grand jury. As a result, prosecutors misconstrued the evidence, he said."
Dr Xi was forced to step down from his position as the head of the department during the investigation. He was unable to work on his ongoing experiments and was branded a spy. What are the odds that anyone at the FBI or DOJ will face any personal or professional repercussions? If recent history is any guide they will not even issue a statement. When the case was withdrawn the option to refile was retained, a blatant attempt to save face and deny responsibility.
Deep cynicism (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Deep cynicism (Score:4, Interesting)
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I am sure the FBI has better things to do than spy on innocent people. From the sheer fact that they were monitoring him we can safely assume that he is a spy, and is guilty as sin.
He got away with it this time, but justice will be served eventually. And one thing's for sure, whether he got away with it or not, everybody knows he is a spy now so you can bet nobody will make the mistake of trusting him with that kind of power again!
Yes, because forget about "innocent until proven guilty", or even "innocent until a trial starts", let's just have "guilty if any government agency files any charges, even if they withdraw the charges later".
It's great that we have objective, rational people like you on juries to decide whether people spend life in jail, walk free or are executed. We can all sleep safely knowing that, thanks to objective, rational people like you, nobody will ever be wrongfully imprisoned or executed without the highest s
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Hey FBI, where not all highschool drop outs like the bulk of your colleagues.
And some of us can even spell "we're" properly. Take that, FBI!
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Delete?
You're new here, aren't you?
Re:Understanding of Science by Americans (Score:5, Insightful)
Be that as it may, I don't think it's ignorance of science that's the issue. You could be very, very scientifically literate in general and have no ability to figure out what any of the gobbledygook in question means.
The thing is, the investigators and prosecutors ought to have *known* that. Because they deal with so many different kinds of things one of their core competencies should be realizing they have no freaking idea what they're looking at; and another should be finding expert consultants who can tell them what it *is* they're looking at. So at the very least we are looking at stunning incompetence in our federal investigators.
But there's more to this. There's a long history in the US of really fucked-up investigations of Chinese-American physicists, going all the way back to Qian Xuesen, the founder of JPL. That a paranoid witchhunt which addressed the imaginary problem of Chinese rocket spying by exiling one of America's best rocket science minds -- to China.
So scientific ignorance notwithstanding I think we're looking at the confluence of racism and incompetence. And the fact that China actually does technological espionage, although that doesn't mean that Chinese physicists are somehow genetically programmed to serve their ancestral motherland.
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Yes, a harmless rocket scientist hounded by the imperialist Americans:
Qian rose through Party ranks to become a Central Committee member. He became associated with the Gang of Four in the 1970s by joining in its attacks on rivals: he dubbed Deng Xiaoping "the sworn enemy of all scientific workers" and also denounced his superior, Zhang Aiping. He supported the government's crushing of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 and condemned the Falun Gong movement after the central government initiated a crackdown in 1999. Qian was known as the father of the Chinese missile program with the construction of China's Dongfeng ballistic missiles and the Long March space rockets.
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This was *after* he'd been exiled to China.
You exile one of the smartest men in the world and you expect him to sink into obscurity?
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A recentÂPew Research SurveyÂshows that the common man has very little understanding of basic science.Â
No kidding, from the summary:
ÂHe was accused of attempting to transfer technology about a "pocket heater" to China.Â
How stupid, you can by pocket heaters from Wal-Mart, in the sporting good department. Hell, they're probably made in China already anyhow. ;-)
Just the way they wanted it (Score:2)
Mission accomplished.
Wow, that must mean there is no espionage! (Score:1)
So, there was a mistake made in this case, so the implication is that the problem really isn't that bad, and the government is overzealous, and we shouldn't worry — and definitely shouldn't be so watchful over unfettered Chinese espionage, because we might sometimes make mistakes. That about sum it up?
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2015/09/08/fbi-investigates-osus-star-of-mapping.html
http://warontherocks.com/2015/09/chinese-and-russian-cyber-espionage-the-kaiser-would-be-jealous/
Re:Wow, that must mean there is no espionage! (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Wow, that must mean there is no espionage! (Score:5, Insightful)
Exactly. Now, how hard would it have been to find some knowledgeable physicists with decent security clearances to run this by? Might have taken a couple of days. Even a week. The horror.
And why the fuck did they SWAT team the guy? Do they think he has a tachyon deflector in his pocket and that turns FBI agents into primordial soup?
Yep, this is exactly why we don't 'trust' the Powers That Be. Once they act like full grown adults for a while, maybe be can restart the discussion.
Re:Wow, that must mean there is no espionage! (Score:4, Insightful)
And why the fuck did they SWAT team the guy? Do they think he has a tachyon deflector in his pocket and that turns FBI agents into primordial soup?
They were hoping he had further evidence in his house, and didn't want him to destroy it.
I'm not saying it was right, I'm just saying that's why they did it.
Yep, this is exactly why we don't 'trust' the Powers That Be. Once they act like full grown adults for a while, maybe be can restart the discussion.
We should never trust the powers that be. There should always be oversight, because abuses are too easy.
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That's ridiculous, because the FBI already has the power to enter your home without your knowledge through "sneak & peek" warrants. Or, failing even that tenuous legality, they could arrest him at work and search his house at their leisure later.
SWAT teams converging on a house that's been under surveillance without any imminent or ongoing life threatening situation only serve one purpose, intimidation of the suspect.
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How about until they start doing important things up front like actually looking at what they think they might have and seeing if it is actually anything, they will continue to waste all their time and our money and destroy their credibility while actual criminals run free.
It's really well past time they start behaving like responsible adults.
What was sent? (Score:4, Insightful)
So.. what was he sending schematics of? The article just has a statement from his lawyer that "The technology discussed was not sensitive or restricted"
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Vacuum cleaner parts.
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LOL! Most people will not get your reference!
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the evidence... was not about a pocket heater (Score:1)
So... he's still a spy, just not as good at it as we thought?
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He probably stole the blueprints for one of those gizmos hunters use to keep their fingers from freezing.
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Now they are.
Gov should pay for lawyers (Score:4, Interesting)
The government should have to pay for the lawyers when they erroneously arrest someone and get caught, regardless of whether the person is living in poverty or not. Or at least a part of the cost--like coinsurance, make them pay *something* to encourage them to be a little more careful before they go destroying people's lives and using lots of government resources.
Re:Gov should pay for lawyers (Score:4, Interesting)
It is worse than that...
If he wasn't a spy before, maybe he'll become one now... If I were the Chinese, I'd be talking to him now...
If you treat your citizens like this, don't be shocked when they don't love their government in return.
I've been there (Score:1)
I am not an AC - just can't drive /. I am Charlie Merritt.
I was in a big to-do re PGP. Persecuted was Phil Zimmerman, and anyone who helped with PGP.
Everybody knew "Special" Agent Robin Sterzer of customs (ICE today).
She was amazing - knew absolutely nothing about crypto.
Even less about the difference between source and compiled machine language.
She was the "prosecutor's" assistant in nailing this crime down.
[Would a FOIA re Sterzer work? 'Prolly not - personnel privacy and all.
My lawyer said (at that ti
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I am not an AC - just can't drive /. I am Charlie Merritt.
I was in a big to-do re PGP. Persecuted was Phil Zimmerman, and anyone who helped with PGP.
Everybody knew "Special" Agent Robin Sterzer of customs (ICE today).
She was amazing - knew absolutely nothing about crypto.
Even less about the difference between source and compiled machine language.
She was the "prosecutor's" assistant in nailing this crime down.
[Would a FOIA re Sterzer work? 'Prolly not - personnel privacy and all.
My lawyer said (at that time) said DOJ *NEVER* announces a drop in investigation.
[They used to let you figure out the statutes of limitations]
I read the law, witnesses are under NO obligation to keep quiet.
I Posted case number and names on Internet.
And the questions they asked, and the fact that I asked
how many of the Grand Jury read what news groups on USNET.
EVERYBODY could "testify" - I am surprised it took so long with this pocket heater thing.
Where were his fellow physicists?
His fellow physicists were in the dark until his lawyer managed to drum them up. Something any half bright 'prosecutor' would think of. It is fortunate that the FBI is as stupid as they appear to be. Imagine if they had done their due diligence, found out they screwed up but decided to hide it by threatening the other scientists with National Security Letters or some such threat? We'd never know. We don't know.
Think he deserves an apology? Make it so! (Score:3)
After reading the article on the NYTimes, I went to whitehouse.gov and made a petition to:
"Apologize to Dr. Xi of Temple Univ. for the FBI's wrongful accusation and prosecution of him on charges of spying."
The complete text reads:
After reading this article in the New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09... [nytimes.com]
I was appalled and upset that another Chinese-American citizen had been wrongly accused and prosecuted for spying when even a basic check could have exonerated him. That this even got to this point not only speaks to the incompetence of the FBI but a pervasive bias and distrust of Chinese American CITIZENS.
President Obama should, at the very least, on behalf of the U.S. Govt. apologize to this distinguished professor who has seen his reputation shattered and loss of various posts and titles. This will be an important symbolic act.
If you believe that he (at least) deserves an apology, follow this link and "sign" the petition:
"https://petitions.whitehouse.gov//petition/apologize-dr-xi-temple-univ-fbis-wrongful-accusation-and-prosecution-him-charges-spying-0".
For those of you unfamiliar with how this works, once it reaches 150 "signatures" then it is publicly viewable. If it then reaches 150,000 within a month then the white house promises to respond.
Please note: when I mentioned "another Chinese American" I did not mean that I am a Chinese American. I am not. Rather I was talking about the other Chinese American CITIZENS (like Wen Ho Lee) who have been charged and prosecuted apparently for no other reason than they are of Chinese origin. They were found innocent.
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Mod parent +1 Informative (Score:3)
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People who think the Niihau incident is relevant here may not realize that Japanese-Americans were in general not deported from the highly sensitive areas in Hawaii. The deportation and incarceration were unnecessary, objected to by several people with appropriate responsbilities at the time, and seems to have been motivated by racism.
Professional repurcussions? Only quiet ones (Score:1)
For the next year or two, the principal actors who demonstrated professional incompetence may miss out on promotion opportunities and they may not be picked for "choice" assignments in the workplace.
As a result, their final pay grade at retirement may be a step or two lower than if they hadn't been involved in this case at all.
But we'll never know, and they probably won't either.
So what was it? (Score:2)
So what were the blueprints he sent over?
It wasn't a pocket heater. TFA is clear on that. So what was it? TFA made some handwavy claim that it was part of the usual collaborative correspondence that universities encourage ... which is fine too.
But I at least, am curious to know what it actually was.
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It was a different superconducting device of his own invention.
Shameful acts by the FBI against my Friend (Score:1, Interesting)
I have worked with Xiaoxing. We have written papers together. He is an excellent physicist.
It is deeply saddening to see yet another scientific researcher attacked by his own government. Shame on the FBI (again).
He probably lost a personal fortune defending himself against kangaroo-type allegations. If you are American, you can be certain that a chunk of your tax dollars went towards this disgusting, McCarthy-esque buffoonery.
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I see that the FBI has a team out modding-down Slashdot posts that take a fact-based view.
How was the above flame-bait?
I myself have had false ITAR-level allegations leveled at me before.
Such shenanigans destroy lives. . . the lives of the very people that are working to educate future American scientists and engineers, and who work to aid the USA in maintaining technological dominance.
Way to go FBI & DOJ. Fuck your own citizens out of their enjoyment of life. Provide them ample motivation to keep a
Double standard (Score:2)
âoeIf he was Canadian-American or French-American, or he was from the U.K., would this have ever even got on the governmentâ(TM)s radar? I donâ(TM)t think so,â Mr. Zeidenberg said.
Is the above statement true? Yes. Our over-zealous, control-freak-infested FBI/CIA/NSA/DoJ came in with guns blazing, maybe imagining they'd uncovered a Chinese intelligence operative stealing American secrets. However, the above quote can be seen another way: If the Chinese government wasn't adversarial (on a good day) with the U.S., and downright hostile to it (on a bad day), and didn't perpetually demonstrate that they can't be trusted, then this wouldn't have happened, either. While I fervently believe
Seems similar to the Wen Ho Lee case. (Score:3)
Seems similar to the Wen Ho Lee case.
They really do *not* like physicists at the FBI, do they?
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Similar to the Valerie Barr case too.
http://news.sciencemag.org/peo... [sciencemag.org]
Researcher loses job at NSF after government questions her role as 1980s activist
By Jeffrey Mervis
10 September 2014
Valerie Barr was 22 and living in New York City in 1979 when she became politically active. A recent graduate of New York University with a master’s degree in computer science, Barr handed out leaflets, stood behind tables at rallies, and baked cookies to support two left-wing groups, the Women’s Committee Against
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Yes, well, you don't lie on security clearance paperwork.
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Yes, well, you don't lie on security clearance paperwork.
Valerie Barr didn't lie on her security clearance. They asked her whether she was ever a member of an organization dedicated to the use of violence. She wasn't and she truthfully said no.
She was accused of lying by a special agent who thought that it was funny to post jokes on the Internet about liberal college professors getting beaten up, who interviewed her without a tape recorder and who destroyed his notes after summarizing what he thought she said, or what he wanted her to say.
There are many court cas
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It sounds like the FBI was probably wrong in this case, but there really is a mind-boggling amount of sensitive/classified technology exfiltration by the Chinese government. People working for them have walked off with blueprints for nuclear submarines, brand-new fighter jets, the Space Shuttle, etc. When that sort of thing happens, and then a few months later the Chinese government shows off a new fighter jet that looks suspiciously similar to one of ours, I can't entirely fault the US government for being
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Seems similar to the Wen Ho Lee case.
They really do *not* like physicists at the FBI, do they?
No, I would not say those two cases are similar. Xi Xiaoxing was persecuted for what would have been a trivial accusation even if were true.
Wen Ho Lee was working on nuclear weapons at LANL. An agent of ours in China found our weapons designs in China.
That is a really big deal, and not something you should brush off because you don't want to hurt anyone's feelings.
Wen Ho Lee had a long history of suspicious behavior. He did everything he could to look like a spy, including travel to China.
Lee had a history
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Lee pled down to fairly light charges, with 50 or so completely dismissed. Lee was awarded a $1.6 million settlement from the U.S. federal government and several news organizations for privacy violations. I guess the government just passes out money to suspected Chinese spies?
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Lee pled down to fairly light charges, with 50 or so completely dismissed. Lee was awarded a $1.6 million settlement from the U.S. federal government and several news organizations for privacy violations. I guess the government just passes out money to suspected Chinese spies?
It wasn't so much the government that settled as it was the four news organizations.
It appears to me that the lawsuit the Wen Ho Lee brought was a revenge suit to try to find out who had ratted him out by giving his name to the press.
The people at LANL closed ranks and refused to tell. After all, they had been filing complaints about his violating security measures long before the FBI was investigating Lee.
So Lee sues the news organizations to make them reveal the sources. Historically, the media would have
What is a pocket heater anyway? (Score:2)
I don't think they're talking about this http://www.amazon.com/Zippo-Wa... [amazon.com]
Re: What is a pocket heater anyway? (Score:4, Informative)
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One of the probs with weeding out the intelligent (Score:3)
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Many police forces conduct a form of intelligence testing as part of the hiring process. If you are too intelligent then you will be booted because they think that police work will be too boring for you and you'll quit.
Is this even true, or just internet bullshit? Did you make it up as you wrote it?
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http://abcnews.go.com/US/court-oks-barring-high-iqs-cops/story?id=95836
No, it's true.
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Many police forces conduct a form of intelligence testing as part of the hiring process. If you are too intelligent then you will be booted because they think that police work will be too boring for you and you'll quit. The police departments across the land provide much of the "talent" pool for the FBI, DOJ, DEA and other three letter agencies which naturally leads to the three letter agencies brimming with fools.
It would be more accurate to say that you read about the New London, Connecticut police department and extrapolated from that one case to "many".
In truth, I had heard of this from HR personnel and officers in the LAPD, Sacramento and Seattle PD as well as from corrections departments as far back as the early 90s when I applied. Additionally, the written tests included very obvious personality and IQ testing. The New London case merely brought it out in the public light.
Laziness (Score:2)
Not over yet? (Score:2)
The filing gives the government the right to file the charges again if it chooses.
So the schematics were for something else, not a "pocket heater". But apparently he did send the schematics for something back to China. And he still could be prosecuted.
Mission Accomplish (Score:1)
You don't know what really happened. (Score:2)
You don't know what really happened because you weren't privy to whatever negotiations went on behind closed doors. Maybe story we are reading this is what happened. And it may not be. Maybe the feds swung a deal with the Dr. and he is going to or did do something for them and this is a cover story. "gosh we didn't even test the white powder to see if it was drugs your Honor". a form of that is what is being claimed. Sure the run of the mill citizen , fed or otherwise employed, can't sort the technicalitie
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It is hard to have a discussion when the summary is so biased. It should be like a real news report - report the facts.
Did you just arrive on the Unicorn bus? Do you even know where you are?
Did you accidentally switch your browser from 'The Sound of Music"?
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It is hard to have a discussion when the summary is so biased. It should be like a real news report - report the facts. Don't report an interpretation of the facts. That crap at the end about an attempt to save face, no apology coming, etc. - all non-facts (although possibly correct). "News for Nerds" not "Opinion loosely based on facts for Nerds".
Yes, it should be more like "real news" where the bias is implemented by convenient omission of "undesirable" facts and certain stories just plain don't get reported at all. From reading/watching mainstream news, one would think that people with conceal-carry permits never use them (typically without firing a shot) to stop a crime in progress. The news story will say something like "the suspect was subdued until police arrived" and that is all it will say, because citizens who legally carry firearms is no
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Don't be an asshole. It interrupts the productive discussion.
Expecting anonymous posters on the Internet to 'not be an asshole' is like the fox not expecting the scorpion to sting it once he's carried it to the other side of the river. There are several different circumstances in which you find out what people are really like, and the ability to post things anonymously on the Internet is definitely one of them: without the feedback loop of some sort of consequences for their actions, some people show no restraint whatsoever because unlike a mature and reasonable pers
Re: Serves him well... (Score:2)
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You have to realise that there are different forms of power: * Power to resist corruption * Power to screw the people
Both of which can and will be abused, because power is always abused. It's in its nature.
There are many more but those two are enough to make you look completely wrongheaded.
The only certain way to reduce the abuses of power is to reduce the total amount of power available, in any form. It also helps to make power more difficult to use (for example, this is the idea behind requiring police to obtain warrants for certain actions). That you can come up with categories and call these multiple forms of power does not, in any way, change this.