The Trump administration is investigating potential foreign influence at the University of Michigan, claiming the school was indifferent to national security concerns raised by the FBI.
In a letter sent to U-M on Tuesday, July 15, the U.S. Department of Education gave the school 30 days to turn over more than five years’ worth of records related to foreign donations, foreign research collaboration, international students and their visas, as well as the names and contact information of school personnel who supervise all those things.
The letter said U-M had received $375 million in foreign funding since 2020 and has been late reporting about $86 million of that money.
“Additionally, many of U-M’s disclosure reports appear to include transactions in which the counterparty was erroneously identified by U-M as nongovernmental,” Paul Moore, chief investigative counsel for the Department of Education, wrote in the letter.
Universities must file semiannual reports with the department detailing their foreign contacts and funding. The letter said a review of U-M’s filings “reveals that incomplete, inaccurate, and untimely disclosures may have been submitted by U-M, in possible violation of its foreign source funding statutory disclosure obligations.”
The Free Press left a message with a U-M spokesman seeking comment.
The letter notes that three Chinese citizens had recently been charged with attempting to smuggle dangerous biological materials into the U.S. for use at U-M labs. It also said that U-M in January closed a joint research institute it ran with Shanghai Jiao Tong University, after U.S. Rep. John Moolenaar, a Republican from Caledonia, highlighted ties that school had to the Chinese military.
“U-M continues to engage in substantial research collaborations with Tsinghua University, Peking University, Fudan University, and Zhejiang University — all universities deeply involved in China’s emerging science and technology research efforts directly linked to military programs,” the letter said.
According to the letter, Ann Chih Lin, director of U-M’s Center for Chinese Studies, met with the director of the FBI in December 2022, and accused the bureau of overstating the threat of technology transfer to China in academic settings.
“Lin’s assertions appear to be ill-conceived,” Moore wrote. “Lin’s apparent indifference to the national security concerns of the largest single source of funding for U-M’s annual research expenditures — the American taxpayer — is particularly unsettling.”
The letter notes that U-M spends more than $2 billion on research each year and about half of that comes from the federal government.
The investigation is the latest battle between the Trump administration and the school, over things like antisemitism on campus, its use of diversity, equity and inclusion, and the overhead costs it charges on federal research grants.
Contact John Wisely: jwisely@freepress.com. On X: @jwisely
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Trump administration investigating possible foreign influence at the University of Michigan
Reporting by John Wisely, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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