Anming Hu is a Chinese-Canadian academic who worked as an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) from 2013 to February 2020 when he was charged with fraud, after which UT suspended him.
He was arrested on February 27, 2020, and charged with fraud under a 2011 law the Donald Trump administration used to target professors and researchers working at American universities as part of the "China Initiative" on combating economic espionage. Hu was accused of not disclosing his association with a Chinese university; on September 9, 2021, the trial resulted in acquittal, thus Hu was cleared of all charges. On February 1, 2022, he returned to his lab at UTK.
Hu was the first target of the China Initiative to stand trial. He was represented by Knoxville attorney Phil Lomonaco. Hu was charged with three counts of wire fraud and three counts of making false statements after 21 months of FBI surveillance failed to turn up evidence of espionage. The first trial of Hu's case ended in a mistrial due to a hung jury on June 16, 2021. The trial generated controversy due to the FBI's conduct, which included knowingly building a case based on false evidence, obtaining Hu's university documents without warrant, spying on Hu and his family, and attempting to coerce Hu to spy on China for the United States. Following the mistrial, Hu was again prosecuted by the United States Department of Justice, which resulted in a second defeat for the Justice Department when Hu was acquitted.
First trial
FBI testimony
In June 2021, FBI agent Kujtim Sadiku admitted in a testimony that he falsely accused Hu of being a spy, baselessly implicated him as a Chinese military agent to UTK, and used false information to put him on the Federal No Fly List. The agent also stated he attempted to have Hu spy for the United States. Hu refused, leading to FBI agents stalking and harassing him for more than two years. According to Sadiku, he got a tip that Hu might be a spy but cannot remember where he got that information. He did a Google search of Hu in March 2018, which turned up a couple of press releases in Chinese with one including a photograph of Hu. Sadiku then proceeded to use Google translation to do further research. The app made an error in translating Hu's forename in the photo caption. The translation of two documents described Hu obtaining a 2012 "short term" award to teach at Beijing University for 20 hours annually through China's Long-Term Thousand Talents Program. Sadiku investigated him based on his involvement in the program, which he described as benefiting the Chinese military. He opened up an economic espionage case because the US government believes the program aims at acquiring information and technology from the US. When Sadiku confronted Hu, Hu said that those who agreed to spy for China were "cheaters," and that he was not involved in any espionage. Sadiku offered Hu to spy for the US using his part-time work at Beijing University as cover, but Hu refused, stating that he was too afraid. Hu then sent Sadiku an email informing him that he would not go to China. Despite no longer believing Hu was a spy, Sadiku ordered a surveillance team to spy on Hu and his son, then a freshman at UT, for the next 21 months. A group of six or seven agents followed him to work, to school, to the grocery, and even went through his trash. They found no evidence of espionage, but the FBI persisted in building up a case against Hu, resulting in the fraud charges. Sadiku called it Operation Chelsea Dagger.