By Lisa Song and Sharon Lerner
The Trump administration is directing employees at the USDA to investigate foreign scientists who collaborate with the agency on research papers for evidence of “subversive or criminal activity.”
The new directive, part of a broader effort to increase scrutiny of research done with foreign partners, asks workers in the agency’s research arm to use Google to check the backgrounds of all foreign nationals collaborating with its scientists. The names of flagged scientists are being sent to national security experts at the agency, according to records reviewed by ProPublica.