a mighty united According to information obtained by WIRED, the States Senate Committee has requested that several academic research centers focusing on political extremism turn over years of documents on federal watchlisting programs, the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol, vaccine mandates, the 2020 election and Trump supporters.
These questions appear to be related to the ongoing investigation into “weaponization of the Quiet Skies Program” by Senator Rand Paul, chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, which was the subject of a September 30 hearing on Capitol Hill. While Paul’s investigation was lauded by Muslim-American organizations as a long-overdue inquiry into abusive federal surveillance, it appears the investigation is part of a broader effort to target academic researchers on extremism, which could chill inquiries into far-right radicalization.
At least three university research centers focused on extremism have received requests for documentation from the Senate committee in the past two months. A copy of a letter from the committee reviewed by WIRED asked the university to turn over all communications, reports, memos or records of data exchanged with federal employees from January 1, 2020 to February 1, 2025, and any records related to the FBI’s terrorist screening databases, Quiet Skies and No Fly lists. The university was also directed to identify all employees who had federal security clearances, all sources of federal grant funding, and internal procedures.
Critically, sources tell WIRED that the Senate committee requested the research centers to disclose all internal and external emails related to a huge list of more than 300 query terms, including “mask mandate,” “origins of COVID-19,” “Trump supporters or the Trump campaign,” “Capitol Police.” FBI Director Kash Patel, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, Justice Department Director and former interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Ed Martin (now U.S. Pardon Attorney), Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, “Trump Voters,” “Red Hats,” “Treasoners,” “Treason Hunters,” and far-right groups and individuals including the Oath Keepers, Boogaloo Boys, Enrique Tarrio, Stewart Rhodes, the Three Percenters, and others.
People familiar with the committee’s investigation see Paul’s sweeping questions as a targeted effort to chill or discourage academic research on far-right groups, ideologies or individuals.
Of the more than 300 content questions listed in the Senate letter, researchers say only two terms — “anti-fascism” and “Black Lives Matter” — appear to align with left-wing movements, ideologies or potentially extremist groups. Earlier this month, the State Department formally designated four anti-fascist groups in Germany, Greece and Italy as foreign terrorist organizations, raising fears of US action against dissent already signaled in National Security Presidential Memorandum-7 and Presidential Order, both of which targeted anti-fascist beliefs, opposition to immigration and customs enforcement raids, and criticism of capitalism and Christianity as potential indicators of terrorism.