The Education Department announced on Tuesday it is opening a foreign funding investigation against the University of Michigan after alleged inaccurate disclosures in the school’s foreign reports.
The department is demanding the university provide a litany of documents within 30 days, including tax records relating to foreign funding since 2020, a copy of written agreements with foreign governments and companies and a list of all foreign gifts since 2020.
“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. As the recipient of federal research funding, UM has both a moral and legal obligation to be completely transparent about its foreign partnerships,” said Chief Investigative Counsel Paul Moore…