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Biden’s woes converge: Last-minute pardons under fire, calls for prosecution mount following Hur tape release

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The release of audio recordings of former President Joe Biden’s interview with special counsel Robert Hur have intensified criticism of the administration’s use of an autopen on official presidential orders and pardons.

The damning tapes, which bring Biden’s alarming mental decline into sharp relief, were kept under wraps by Biden Attorney General Merrick Garland. Now that Biden’s cognitive problems have been bared, some are calling for Garland to face prosecution for rejecting Congressional demands to release the tapes when he ran the Department of Justice (DOJ).

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«Key decisions made in the final days of the Biden presidency, including using autopens to issue blanket pardons for the Biden Crime Family, must be fully examined. There are serious concerns that President Biden lacked the mental capacity to authorize those actions,» House Oversight Committee Chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., posted to X on Saturday. 

Axios released hours of Biden’s interview with the special counsel’s office on Saturday – a year and a half after the interviews were held across a two-day period in the fall of 2023. The recordings showed the former president tripping over his words, slurring sentences, taking long pauses between answers and struggling to remember key moments in his life, including the year his son Beau Biden died of cancer. 

The recordings have further bolstered conservative outrage stretching back years that Biden’s mental acuity had cratered and that the Delaware Democrat who had served in the Senate for decades had become a «shadow» of himself and was unfit to lead the country as president. 

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CRITICISMS MOUNT THAT BIDEN IS A ‘SHADOW’ OF HIMSELF AFTER DISASTROUS DEBATE: ‘NOT THE SAME MAN’ FROM VP ERA

Former President Joe Biden is facing renewed scrutiny over his mental acuity following the release of the Hur tapes. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

The flurry of pardons Biden allegedly signed by autopen in the waning days of his administration included ones for his son Hunter Biden, his siblings and their spouses, retired Gen. Mark Milley, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and members and staff of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

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Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, told Fox News Digital in a phone interview on Sunday that he has long sounded the alarm over the validity of Biden’s pardons, as many lacked specifically what charges an individual was protected against. Instead, many of the pardons outlined blanket protections, such as preemptively pardoning Milley and Fauci from potential prosecution and blanket pardons for unidentified members of Congress who served on the J6 select committee. 

«I’ve been long of the position that the pardons, many of the pardons, are not valid based on the fact that they don’t pardon anything. It’s just a pardon for conduct that’s unnamed … it’s further confirmation that the pardons are not valid,» said Fitton, who had sued for the release of the audio recordings. 

WHAT IS AN AUTOPEN? THE SIGNING DEVICE AT THE HEART OF TRUMP’S ATTACKS ON BIDEN PARDONS

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«A competent president would say, ‘How is it I could pardon someone for nothing?’» he continued. 

Fitton added that «more importantly, Biden should still be prosecuted» after he was «mollycoddled» by the Biden DOJ during the investigation into the documents he possessed from his days in the Senate and when he served as vice president. 

DOJ Garland

Then-Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks during a news conference at the Department of Justice under the Biden administration. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

«The audio shows he was mollycoddled by the Justice Department, you know, because Hur was working for the Justice Department. … There’s an argument that the records he had as vice president, he could have. But that wasn’t the position of Justice Department. But certainly he didn’t have the right to have those records from his days of the Senate,» Fitton said. 

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President Donald Trump railed on Truth Social that the release of the audio recordings revealed a «bigger scandal» about the use of an autopen under the Biden White House. 

«Whoever had control of the «AUTOPEN» is looking to be a bigger and bigger scandal by the moment,» Trump posted to Truth Social on Friday.

TRUMP CLAIMS BIDEN PARDONS ARE ‘VOID,’ ALLEGING THEY WERE SIGNED VIA AUTOPEN

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He added: «THIS IS WHY THE UNSELECT COMMITTEE OF POLITICAL THUGS, WHO WERE GIVEN A FULL AND COMPLETE PARDON BY THE PERSON WHO WIELDED THE NOW ILLEGALLY USED AUTOPEN, DELETED AND DESTROYED ALL EVIDENCE AND INFORMATION FROM THEIR CORRUPT AND VICIOUS WITCH HUNT AGAINST ME, AND MANY OTHER PEOPLE, WHOSE LIVES WERE COMPLETELY SHATTERED AND DESTROYED BY THIS HISTORICALLY CRIMINAL EVENT.»

An example of an autopen machine.

An example of an autopen machine. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

Autopen signatures are automatically produced by a machine, as opposed to an authentic, handwritten signature. The conservative Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project first investigated the Biden administration’s use of an autopen earlier this year and found that the same signature was on a bevvy of executive orders and other official documents, while Biden’s signature on the document announcing his departure from the 2024 race varied from the apparent machine-produced signature.

The reports led to speculation that Biden aides had approved of executive orders and sweeping pardons, not the president. 

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Hur led an investigation into Biden’s handling of classified documents following his departure as vice president under the Obama administration. Hur announced in February 2024 that he would not recommend criminal charges against Biden for possessing classified materials after his vice presidency, citing that Biden is «a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.»

Although a transcript was released, the White House asserted executive privilege over releasing recordings after Garland urged the administration not to release the recordings, according to a letter obtained by Fox News in May of last year. 

BIDEN’S ‘AUTOPEN SIGNATURE’ APPEARS ON MOST OFFICIAL DOCS, RAISING CONCERNS OVER WHO CONTROLLED THE WH: REPORT

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Former President Joe Biden, Special Counsel Robert Hur

Audio from then-President Joe Biden’s interview with special counsel Robert Hur, right, reveals that he, and not the special counsel, brought up Beau Biden’s death. (Getty Images)

«The audio recordings of your interview and Mr. Zwonitzer’s interview fall within the scope of executive privilege. Production of these recordings to the Committees would raise an unacceptable risk of undermining the Department’s ability to conduct similar high-profile criminal investigations–in particular, investigations where the voluntary cooperation of White House officials is exceedingly important,» Garland wrote in a letter to Biden last year, justifying why the recordings should not be released.  

PRESIDENT BIDEN PARDONS HIS SIBLINGS JUST MINUTES BEFORE LEAVING OFFICE

Comer and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-OH, subpoenaed the Department of Justice in February 2024 for the recordings and other materials related to the interview and investigation, but to no avail. The House voted to hold Garland in contempt of Congress over the matter in June 2024. 

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Comer announced on Friday that his committee will continue «its investigation into the cover-up of Biden’s mental decline and use of autopen» and the use of the pen when Biden pardoned members of his family.  

james comer

House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY). (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

«The American people deserve to know who was actually calling the shots in the Biden White House, because it wasn’t Joe Biden. His mental decline was obvious to anyone paying attention. But instead of being honest, the Biden Administration, Democrats in Congress, and the legacy media lied and covered it up. They gaslit the American people while propping up a man who was unfit to lead,» Comer said in a press release on Friday, noting that Garland «defied» a subpoena to release the recordings. 

«Key decisions made in the final days of the Biden presidency, including using autopens to issue blanket pardons for the Biden Crime Family, must be fully examined. There are serious concerns that President Biden lacked the mental capacity to authorize those actions. The American people are done being lied to. We’re going to bring the truth into the light, and starting next week, those involved in the cover-up will begin to be put on notice,» Comer said in a statement on Friday. 

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The recordings «demonstrate that Biden was completely out of it, and we already found documents that the Biden White House had changed the transcript, edited it to hide this. This is what they were hiding. There’s got to be accountability. Garland should be prosecuted by the Attorney General over the contempt he had for Congress to hide this,» Fitton said on Fox News last week. 

Fox News host Mark Levin said Garland «should be forced to testify before Congress under oath» over the alleged cover-up of Biden’s health. 

«Former Attorney General Garland heard these recordings and used lies and deceit to prevent them from being released to the American people before the Democrats nominated Biden. He should be forced to testify before Congress under oath and held to account for his grotesque abuse of power,» Levin posted to X. 

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HUNTER BIDEN PARDON: MEDIA TAKES LATEST BLOW TO CREDIBILITY WITH BOTCHED COVERAGE OF BROKEN PROMISE

Hours before Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, the White House announced pardons for both Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; and Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. 

Less than a half an hour before Trump became president, Biden pardoned members of his family, including his brother James B. Biden, sister Valerie Biden Owens, brother-in-law John T. Owens and brother Francis W. Biden. 

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The former president had previously issued a «full and unconditional pardon» to his adult son, Hunter Biden, after he was convicted in two separate federal cases last year. Hunter Biden’s pardon covered a 10-year period, between 2014 to 2024, for any offenses he may have committed. 

«I do think that the Biden pardons need some scrutiny, and they need scrutiny because we want pardons to matter and to be accepted and to be something that’s used correctly. So, I do think we’re going to take a hard look at how they went and what they did. And if they’re null and void,» Ed Martin said in his final press conference while serving as acting U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C. 

President Donald Trump

President Donald Trump speaks during an event. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Trump claimed on Truth Social in March that Biden’s pardons were «void» due to the «fact that they were done by Autopen.» 

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«The ‘Pardons’ that Sleepy Joe Biden gave to the Unselect Committee of Political Thugs, and many others, are hereby declared VOID, VACANT, AND OF NO FURTHER FORCE OR EFFECT, because of the fact that they were done by Autopen,» Trump claimed in a Truth Social post.

«In other words, Joe Biden did not sign them but, more importantly, he did not know anything about them! The necessary Pardoning Documents were not explained to, or approved by, Biden. He knew nothing about them, and the people that did may have committed a crime,» Trump added.

BIDEN STRUGGLES WITH WORDS, KEY MEMORIES IN LEAKED AUDIO FROM SPECIAL COUNSEL HUR INTERVIEW

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Martin, who will now lead the Department of Justice’s «Weaponization Working Group» targeting political corruption within the federal law enforcement department, added in a media interview earlier this month that he had been investigating Biden’s last-minute pardons. 

«When [former President] Bill Clinton pardoned Marc Rich, and it turned out that Marc Rich had paid a boatload of money to one of Clinton’s friend’s lawyers. That’s not corrupt, it’s not criminal, because the plenary power of the pardon. But in the case of Joe Biden and his pardons, they were so specific. Back 14 years, covering everything you’ve ever done. And when I say specific, they were broad, but they had time stuff on them,» Martin said earlier this month, according to the Daily Caller News Foundation. 

Ed Martin

Former Interim United States Attorney for the District of Columbia Ed Martin. (Getty Images)

«And that at least leads to questions, because the plenary power’s true. But the question is what is going on here, and I did get responses from some of them and those questions are ongoing,» Martin continued.

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Conservative social media users have sounded off that the recordings show Biden lacked the cognitive ability to know about the pardons or executive orders he allegedly signed off on. 

HUR TRANSCRIPT CONFIRMS BIDEN MEMORY LAPSES, CONTRADICTS PRESIDENT’S CLAIM ABOUT EXCHANGE OVER SON’S DEATH

«Joe Biden had no clue where he was for most of his presidency… Just listen to Robert Hur’s interview with him… He’s a complete mess. There’s no way Biden knew about the pardons, executive orders and directives coming out of his office,» conservative X commentator Tim Young posted to the platform.

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«I’d say with the Hur tapes coming out, maybe those pardons can be challenged? Biden was CLEARLY mentally incapacitated,» conservative podcast host Shawn Farash posted to X. 

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Fox News Digital reached out to Biden’s office for comment on the tapes and subsequent backlash on Sunday morning but did not immediately receive a reply. 

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INTERNACIONAL

Con la designación de Mojtaba Jamenei, Irán endurece el régimen y profundiza la confrontación con EE.UU.

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La designación de Mojtaba Jamenei como nuevo líder supremo de Irán profundizó el control de las fuerzas más conservadoras y el avance de la Guardia Revolucionaria (CGRI) en el poder político y militar del gobierno de los ayatollah en plena guerra de Medio Oriente.

El mensaje es claro: el “régimen teocrático” se endurece aún más en abierto desafío a los Estados Unidos e Israel y deja una clara advertencia a cualquier atisbo de protesta popular.

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Leé también: Medio Oriente: Trump intenta minimizar el impacto económico, pero escala la tensión por el precio del petróleo

“Todo apunta a que la Guardia Revolucionaria ejerce el poder político y militar. El presidente Masoud Pezeshkian quedó relegado a figura simbólica», dijo a TN el analista internacional Federico Gaón, especializado en temas de Medio Oriente.

Según el experto, “Mojtaba Jamenei ejercía de enlace entre la oficina del ayatollah y el CGRI desde antes de la muerte de su padre”, Ali Jamenei, asesinado el 28 de febrero en el inicio de la guerra.

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“Con Mojtaba al mando, la Guardia Revolucionaria quiere mostrar unidad y cerrar filas en pos de preservar la supervivencia del régimen”, advirtió.

La Guardia Revolucionaria acumula poder

La Guardia Revolucionaria, también conocida como Pasadarán, fue creada tras el triunfo de la Revolución Islámica en 1979. Su objetivo principal es salvaguardar el gobierno de amenazas internas y externas.

Se estima que cuenta con 150.000 efectivos entre fuerzas terrestres, navales y aéreas. Bajo su mando está la milicia voluntaria conocida como Basiji, utilizada para contener protestas y a la oposición. Además, tiene a su cargo a la fuerza Quds, el cuerpo de elite encargado de las operaciones en el exterior y nexo con los grupos proxy proiraníes como Hezbollah, Hamas o los hutíes yemeníes.

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El humo se levanta en Teherán tras un ataque estadounidense-israelí (Foto: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS)

Es, en la práctica, un ejército paralelo.

La Guardia Revolucionaria, según fuentes citadas por Irán Internacional, un medio especializado en noticias iraníes con base en Londres, presionó por la designación de Mojtaba Jamenei, a pesar de que la tradición chiíta rechaza la sucesión dinástica.

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Leé también: La guerra en Medio Oriente golpea a China: petróleo, asociación estratégica con Irán y tensión geopolítica

De esa manera, este cuerpo militar de élite se convirtió virtualmente en el nuevo y monopólico gran poder político y militar del país, en un escenario complejo que deja muchísimas dudas en el terreno.

“La eliminación sistemática de los escalafones más altos del régimen por parte de los Estados Unidos e Israel va a dificultar el proceso de toma y ejecución de decisiones”, dijo Gaón.

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Para el analista, “en este momento lo más probable es que distintas unidades de la Guardia Revolucionaria estén actuando de forma independiente o descentralizada, cual organización terrorista. Tienen más de 30 unidades o comandos que operan de forma independiente, decidiendo cómo continuar la guerra y qué hacer para mantener el orden interno”, añadió.

Amenazas de represión interna: “Orden de disparar a matar”

Salar Abnoush, un comandante de la Guardia Revolucionaria, citado por The Media Line, un portal estadounidense especializado en Medio Oriente, advirtió que cualquier iraní que salga a las calles a protestar será atacado bajo “orden de disparar a matar”.

Según el reporte, numerosos iraníes lanzan “espontáneamente” distintas consignas contra el gobierno desde sus casas y en la oscuridad de la noche. Pero nadie se anima a protestar en las calles, como en las masivas movilizaciones de diciembre y enero que dejaron miles de muertos.

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Leé también: Los kurdos quieren combatir a los ayatollah: contactos con la CIA y el riesgo de una guerra civil en Irán

Según el reporte, las fuerzas Basiji desplegaron armas pesadas y vehículos blindados en lugares clave de Teherán listas para reprimir a manifestantes.

Un mensaje de SMS al que tuvo acceso el portal y distribuido entre la población de Karaj, a 40 kilómetros de Teherán, alertó sobre eventuales protestas. “Cualquier disturbio callejero será tratado como cooperación con el enemigo”, indicó.

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Las unidades de la Guardia Revolucionaria y de los Basiji se reposicionaron en estadios, complejos deportivos, escuelas y mezquitas después de que sus cuarteles fueron blanco de los ataques estadounidenses e israelíes.

El nuevo líder supremo de Irán, Mojtaba Jamenei, que sucede a su padre, el ayatollah, Alí Jamenei, que murió en el inicio de los ataques de Estados Unidos e Israel. (Foto: EFE - Mehr)

El nuevo líder supremo de Irán, Mojtaba Jamenei, que sucede a su padre, el ayatollah, Alí Jamenei, que murió en el inicio de los ataques de Estados Unidos e Israel. (Foto: EFE – Mehr)

Más confrontación y línea dura

La designación de Mojtaba Jamenei y el aumento del poder de la Guardia Nacional son un claro mensaje de que el gobierno de los ayatollah eligió la confrontación total con Estados Unidos e Israel.

Es el triunfo de la línea dura del poder central.

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El mundo extrañará la era de su padre”, dijo a Reuters un funcionario iraní. “Mojtaba no tendrá más remedio que mostrar un puño de hierro. Incluso si el conflicto termina, habrá una severa represión interna”, advirtió.

En ese escenario, Irán no piensa cesar la guerra. «Mojtaba es aún peor y más de línea dura que su padre”, dijo Alan Eyre, exdiplomático estadounidense y especialista en Irán, citado por The Israel Times.

El mensaje es inequívoco: la Revolución Islámica está dispuesta a todo para preservar el poder.

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Ukraine sending drone team to help protect US bases in Jordan at Washington’s request, Zelenskyy says

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Ukraine has dispatched interceptor drones and a team of drone specialists to help protect U.S. military bases in Jordan as fighting tied to the Iran war intensifies across the region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with The New York Times.

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Zelenskyy told the NYT that Washington made the request on Thursday, and Kyiv moved swiftly to respond, dispatching the drone team the following day.

«We reacted immediately,» Zelenskyy said. «I said, yes, of course, we will send our experts.»

The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for confirmation.

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IRAN PROXIES WAGE WAR ON ISRAEL, THREATEN US INTERESTS AS IRAQ SLAMMED FOR NOT DISARMING THEM

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi stands during a joint press conference with Prime Minister of the Netherlands Rob Jetten on March 8, 2026, in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Viktor Kovalchuk/Global Images Ukraine/Getty Images)

The reported request comes as the U.S. and Gulf states work to intercept hundreds of Iranian missiles and thousands of drones launched in retaliation for U.S.-Israeli strikes that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

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Iranian drones have struck the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, including an attack on a tactical operations center in Kuwait that killed six U.S. service members.

The high volume of Iranian Shahed drone launches has drawn attention to the cost disparity between the relatively inexpensive unmanned aircraft and the far more sophisticated air defense systems, such as Patriot missiles, used to intercept them.

PETRAEUS CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE SANCTIONS ON RUSSIA OVER ALLEGED INTELLIGENCE SUPPORT TO IRAN

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According to the Department of the Army’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget estimates, the cost for a single Patriot PAC-3 MSE interceptor is $3.8 million.

A basic Iranian-designed Shahed drone costs roughly $20,000 to $50,000, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

CENTCOM ISSUES SAFETY WARNING TO IRANIAN CIVILIANS AS REGIME USES ‘HEAVILY POPULATED’ AREAS FOR LAUNCHES

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First-person-view training drones hang on a wall inside a drone instruction facility in Kyiv.

FPV training drones are seen on a wall at the Killhouse Academy drone training center on March 4, 2026, in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

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«Iran knows it can’t match the U.S. or Gulf states plane for plane or missile for missile, but it can change the economics of the conflict,» said Patrycja Bazylczyk, an associate director with the Missile Defense Project at CSIS, in an interview with Military Times.

«Drones let Iran punch above its weight, keep its adversaries off balance, and project power across the region at minimal cost. We can’t just play whack-a-mole in the sky,» she added. «Shooting drones down one by one is the most expensive way to fight the cheapest threat. We have to go after the roots – the launch sites, the production lines, and the storage depots.»

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‘Serious concerns’: GOP sounds alarm on taxpayer funds going to ‘high risk’ universities vulnerable to CCP

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FIRST ON FOX: The House Select Committee on China is calling on the National Science Foundation (NSF) to pause a $67 million research security initiative, citing concerns that the universities leading the effort have engaged in problematic collaborations with Chinese military-linked institutions.

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In a Tuesday letter to NSF Interim Director Brian Stone obtained by Fox News Digital, House Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar, a Republican from Michigan, urged the agency to suspend funding for the «Safeguarding the Entire Community of the U.S. Research Ecosystem» (SECURE) initiative and conduct a comprehensive review of the participating institutions.

Moolenaar’s concern, expressed in the letter, is that several of those participating institutions, including Texas A&M University and the University of Washington, receive tens of millions from the grant despite ties to the CCP that the committee finds concerning.

«The program is intended to develop tools, data infrastructure, and analytic capabilities for assessing research-security risks,» Moolenaar wrote. «Faculty from UW and TAMU – the same institutions now charged with designing systems and processes to protect taxpayer-funded research – have been collaborating with People’s Republic of China (PRC) defense research and industrial base entities, many of which are on various U.S. government national security entity lists, as detailed in this letter.»

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NEW REPORT SOUNDS ALARM ON ‘STAGGERING’ AMOUNT OF FOREIGN MONEY POURING INTO US UNIVERSITIES
 

The House Select Committee on China is sounding the alarm about taxpayer dollars going to CCP-linked entities.  (Li Gang/Xinhua via Getty Images)

The committee alleges the University of Washington collaborated on research with Chinese institutions tied to the CCP’s military and defense sector, including entities on U.S. government watchlists. The committee cited joint publications with PLA-linked organizations, China’s Academy of Military Medical Sciences and universities known as the «Seven Sons of National Defense,» involving work in AI, advanced materials and other dual-use technologies.

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The letter describes the university’s ties as «high-risk research relationships with PRC military- and defense-linked institutions.»

The University of Washington is designated to be awarded $50 million from the grant. 

Additionally, the note claims that Texas A&M partnered with Chinese defense-affiliated institutions, including the PLA’s National University of Defense Technology and Harbin Institute of Technology. They argue these collaborations, some involving federally funded research, raise national security concerns and could conflict with U.S. research security and export control laws.

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Texas A&M is designated to be awarded $17 million from the grant. 

HOUSE REPUBLICANS SOUND ALARM OVER CCP-LINKED FAKE RESEARCH THREATENING US TAXPAYER-FUNDED SCIENCE

«Institutions entrusted with U.S. taxpayer dollars to safeguard the nation’s research enterprise should not simultaneously enable foreign adversaries to access and exploit sensitive research and taxpayer-funded scientific advances,» Moolenaar wrote.

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«These joint research projects detailed above raise serious concerns about allocating taxpayer dollars for research security initiatives to institutions like TAMU and UW—institutions with documented and ongoing failures in safeguarding U.S. research from PRC defense entities,» Moolenaar said, adding that it is «troubling that U.S. institutions that collaborate with China’s defense research and industrial base, its nuclear weapons programs, its mass surveillance infrastructure, and institutions on U.S. government national security lists are being entrusted to co-lead the development of national research security frameworks.»

Moolenaar’s letter urges NSF to assess whether the institutions are complying with a range of federal requirements, including National Security Presidential Memorandum 33 (NSPM-33) Section 117 of the Higher Education Act, and U.S. export control laws.

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Chinese honor guards outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing

Chinese honor guards prepare for the arrival of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Chinese President Xi Jinping during a welcome ceremony outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. (Wang Zhao/AFP via Getty Images)

Moolenaar also raised concerns about potential violations of the Wolf Amendment, an appropriations restriction in effect since 2012 that prohibits NASA from engaging in bilateral cooperation with the Chinese government or Chinese government-affiliated organizations in NASA-funded research without specific certification.

Moolenaar’s letter concludes with four requests for NSF to respond to by March 31.

First, the congressman asks if NSF will pause its SECURE contract funding to conduct a «full review» and also requests that NSF provide the committee with the results of that review.

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The letter also requests that NSF «provide the award and contract details for the SECURE Initiative» and asks whether NSF believes that «it is appropriate for universities to use U.S. taxpayer funds to conduct research in collaboration with known Chinese defense research and industrial base entities or entities implicated in human rights violations?»

«Will NSF update its terms and conditions to expressly prohibit the use of award funds to conduct research with, or for the benefit of, any entity that appears on a publicly available U.S. government entity list?» the last question in the letter asks. «If not, please explain why.»

Fox News Digital reached out to Texas A&M University for comment, as well as Stanford University, who is mentioned in the letter as being a participant in the program.

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«NSF will respond directly to the Committee’s letter,» an NSF spokesperson told Fox News Digital. 

In a statement to Fox News Digital, a University of Washington spokesperson said, «SECURE is a dynamic program that is not prescriptive but can assist universities of all sizes and other research entities to address research security concerns. The University of Washington takes research security and integrity very seriously. The UW directs significant effort and resources toward being leaders in research security and integrity, and goes above and beyond SECURE’s guidance and recommendations. Given the evolving landscape, we are regularly reviewing our guidelines and protocols.»

Fox News Digital has extensively reported on rising concerns about the CCP’s attempts to infiltrate the education system in the United States, including a sweeping report last year warning that America’s top universities have been quietly partnering with Chinese artificial intelligence labs deeply embedded in Beijing’s surveillance and security state and in some cases co-authoring thousands of papers with entities tied to oppressive efforts against Uyghur Muslims.

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