Senators demand that researchers in the field of extremism hand over documents related to right-wing hatreds

Strong United A state Senate committee has asked multiple academic think tanks focused on political extremism to turn over years’ worth of documents about federal watchlist programs, the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, vaccine mandates, the 2020 election, and Trump supporters, according to information obtained by WIRED.

These inquiries appear to be related to the ongoing investigation by the Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Senator Rand Paul, into the “weaponization of the Quiet Skies Program,” which was the subject of the September 30 hearing. Hearing On Capitol Hill. While Paul’s inquiry was praised By American Muslim organizations as a long-overdue examination of abusive federal surveillance, the investigation appears to be a broader attempt to target academic researchers on extremism, which could halt investigations into far-right extremism.

At least three university research centers focusing on extremism have received requests for documentation from the Senate committee in the past two months. A copy of the committee letter reviewed by WIRED requests that the university that received it turn over records of all communications, reports, memos, or statements exchanged with federal employees from January 1, 2020 through February 1, 2025, and any records related to Quiet Skies, the No Fly List, and the FBI’s terrorist screening database. The university has also been directed to identify all employees who hold federal security clearances, any and all sources of federal grant funding, and internal procedures.

Crucially, sources told WIRED that the Senate committee asked the think tanks to disclose all emails, internal and external, related to a massive list of more than 300 query terms, which included “mask mandates,” “COVID-19 origins,” “Trump supporters or Trump campaign,” and “Capitol Police.” FBI Director Kash Patel, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, DOJ operative 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 Voter,” “Red Hat,” “Sedition Hunters,” and far-right groups and individuals including the Oath Keepers, Boogaloo Boys, Enrique Tarrio, Stuart Rhodes, Three Percenters, and others.

People familiar with the committee’s investigation view Paul’s sprawling inquiries as a targeted effort to temper or discourage academic research on far-right groups, ideologies or individuals.

Of the more than 300 substantive queries included in the Senate letter, researchers say only two terms — “anti-fascism” and “Black Lives Matter” — appeared to align with left-wing movements, ideologies, or potential extremist groups. Earlier this month, the State Department officially appointed Four anti-fascist groups Designated as foreign terrorist organizations in Germany, Greece and Italy, raising fears of a US crackdown on dissent that has already been hinted at in National Security Presidential Memorandum-7 and a presidential order, both targeting anti-fascist beliefs, opposition to Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids, and criticism of capitalism and Christianity as potential indicators of terrorism.