More likely is that before coronavirus Lieber's arrest wasn't politically feasible. He was Chair of the Chem department at Harvard, respected key opinion leade

More likely is that before coronavirus Lieber's arrest wasn't politically feasible. He was Chair of the Chem department at Harvard, respected key opinion leader etc. All he did was take money from more sources than he disclosed, to fund the normal business of his academic career. Reading between the lines, looking at the photos, everyone familiar with science+academia can clearly see he's slimy but no more slimy than many other respected businesspeople. But to lay people it seems like a scientist is getting persecuted for furthering international cooperation in basic research. And of course one does not chair a Harvard department without powerful friends. From the court filings, it seems Lieber was caught a long time ago when he e.g. explicitly lied about funding sources to investigators. When coronavirus happened, suddenly Wuhan, China, and research became politically exposed. Before coronavirus, if you said Lieber took money to help develop a university in Wuhan people in the USA would think he was doing charity work in some unknown tier 3 city. Now people in the USA hear the same and think of advanced bioweapons. It's a good time to indict and convict.