"The queries appear to be connected to an ongoing investigation by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs's chair, Senator Rand Paul, into the "weaponization of the Quiet Skies Program," which was the subject of a September 30 hearing on Capitol Hill. While Paul's inquiry was lauded by Muslim-American organizations as a long-overdue examination of abusive federal surveillance, it appears the inquiry is a broader attempt to target academic researchers on extremism, which could chill inquiries into far-right radicalization."
"A copy of a letter from the committee reviewed by WIRED asks the university that received it to turn over records for all communications, reports, memoranda, or data exchanged with federal staff from January 1, 2020 through February 1, 2025, and any records regarding Quiet Skies and the No Fly List, the FBI's Terrorist Screening Database. The university was also instructed to identify all staff who held federal security clearances, any and all sources of federal grant funding, and internal procedures."
A Senate committee has requested years of documentation from multiple university research centers focused on political extremism, seeking materials on federal watchlisting programs, the January 6 attack, vaccine mandates, the 2020 election, and Trump supporters. The requests appear linked to an investigation into the Quiet Skies Program and its alleged "weaponization," and also ask for records on the No Fly List and the FBI's Terrorist Screening Database. Universities were asked to identify staff with federal clearances, sources of federal grant funding, and internal procedures. The committee sought emails and records matching a list of over 300 query terms that cover pandemic topics and political actors.
Read at WIRED
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