The Department of Education (ED) announced on Tuesday that it opened an investigation into the University of Michigan’s (UM) “inaccurate and incomplete” foreign funding reports.
ED’s announcement alleges UM falsely reported funds it received from foreign sources as “nongovernmental entities” despite the sources having a direct affiliation with their governments. The ED requests that the university release its financial records, including those relating to foreign donations, provide copies of all agreements it has with foreign adversaries and list all foreign students and staff at the university.
“Despite the University of Michigan’s history of downplaying its vulnerabilities to malign foreign influence, recent reports reveal that UM’s research laboratories remain vulnerable to sabotage, including what the U.S. Department of Justice recently described in criminal charges as ‘potential agroterrorism’ by Chinese nationals affiliated with UM,” Paul Moore, Chief Investigative Counsel at ED, said in a statement.
UM did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
“As the recipient of federal research funding, UM has both a moral and legal obligation to be completely transparent about its foreign partnerships,” Moore continued. “Unfortunately, tens of millions of dollars in foreign funding in UM’s disclosure reports have been reported in an untimely manner and appear to erroneously identify some of UM’s foreign funders as ‘nongovernmental entities,’ even though the foreign funders seem to be directly affiliated with foreign governments. [The Office of the General Counsel] will vigorously investigate this matter to ensure that the American people know the true scope of foreign funding and influence on our campuses.”
UM has been on the federal government’s radar for several reasons in recent months. In June, the Department of Justice charged two Chinese nationals with smuggling biologically hazardous materials into the U.S. for research at UM. The Committee on Education and the Workforce announced it would continue investigating what it referred to as “the potential agroterrorism incident.”
In January, UM ended its two-decade-long partnership with a Chinese university with ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) after pressure from the Select Committee on the CCP due to “an espionage risk” and national security concerns.
President Donald Trump’s education department has been prioritizing the prevention of foreign influence in American universities, opening investigations into several universities over allegedly inaccurate funding disclosures. The administration is even working to reform the foreign student visa program in light of protests supporting foreign terrorist organizations spreading across campuses around the country.
Trump signed an executive order in April requiring American universities to be more transparent about any foreign donations they accept.
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