A former U.S. education secretary has registered as a foreign agent to help support Qatar’s education efforts.
William Bennett, who served under the Reagan administration from 1985-1988, has registered with the Department of Justice (DOJ) as the senior education advisor to the Embassy of Qatar. Bennett is tasked with defending American university branch campuses in Qatar and publicizing “the fact that Qatari higher education efforts do not support radical Islamicist movements or positions.”
“In light of Dr. Bennett’s extensive professional history dealing with education, the purpose of this engagement is to provide him with information relating to American universities offering curriculum in Qatar, to allow him to review and understand funding decisions made by the Qatari government relating to these schools, to promote Western understanding of the nature of these expenditures and the nature of the curriculum, and, most broadly, to promote economic and cultural understanding between Qatar and the United States,” the registration paperwork reads.
Bennett started the new position around June 30 and will be compensated $30,000 a month by the Qatari government for seven months. His job duties will include “communications to U.S. political office holders” as well as writing op-eds, conducting radio and TV interviews and working with Congress.
Bennett did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.
Many prominent universities, such as Georgetown and Northwestern, have had branch campuses in Qatar for years, enrolling hundreds of students. The schools host undergraduate programs exploring foreign service and communications.
American partnerships with Qatar have led to national security concerns, which eventually prompted the closure of Texas A&M University’s Qatari campus due to “heightened instability in the Middle East” despite the school denying any security risk. Qatar’s U.S. embassy has denied having any influence in American politics and education.
Qatar has also long funded middle eastern studies programs at many major U.S. schools and universities, prompting suspicions from Congress about its influence at the institutions especially as anti-Israel protests flooded the country. Qatar reportedly has direct ties to Hamas, apparently housing its leaders, The Times of Israel reported, citing Qatari government official Majed al-Ansari, and sending millions of dollars to Gaza amid its war on Israel, according to CNN.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in April requiring American universities to be more transparent about any foreign donations they accept in an effort to limit foreign influence in education. Many schools are now under investigation for allegedly failing to properly disclose their foreign donations.
The Trump administration’s probing has prompted several American universities to close their satellite campuses in foreign nations such as China.
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