Former U.S. education secretary William Bennett, who served in various government roles during the administrations of former Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, is on the Qatari payroll, earning $30,000 per month, according to paperwork he filed with the federal government this month.
The July 3 filing to the U.S. Justice Department, under the Foreign Agent Registration Act of 1938, states that Bennett will serve as a senior education adviser to the Qatari embassy for seven months, starting at the end of June, including making “efforts to publicize the fact that Qatari higher education efforts do not support radical Islamicist movements or positions.”
He will also engage in “publicized efforts, potentially including communications to U.S. political office holders,” that “would help dispel contrary notions,” per the filing. (JNS sought comment from Bennett.)
Charles Small, founding director and president of the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy, told JNS that Bennett had a “stellar reputation” in education.
“It’s unfortunate that he’s on the payroll of an entity that’s affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood and an entity that is influencing higher education and political discourse in our country,” Small told JNS.
“Qatar’s obviously buying influence in higher education and cultural institutions and now on both sides of the aisle in Washington,” he said. “It’s a national security threat, because the Qataris follow the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is committed to the fragmenting of American society using antisemitism.”
ISGAP reports have documented “at least tens of billions of dollars” that Qatar has spent on U.S. higher education, and now K-12 programs, according to Small. That includes $10 billion for Cornell University and $1.3 billion for Texas A&M University, he said.
The latter agreement resulted in Qatar receiving intellectual property rights for 502 research projects, 58 of which “had dual-use military implications” and 13 that “had dual-use nuclear research implications,” Small told JNS.
“Qatar has very good relations with the Taliban, they still host Hamas, and they have good relations with the Iranian revolutionary regime,” he said.
