The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law sent a letter to Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche on Thursday morning calling for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate Georgetown University. The letter claimed that the university is violating the U.S.’s Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) through an alleged “secret agreement” between Georgetown’s Bridge Initiative and a Qatari government group.
The Bridge Initiative is a research project focused on studying and documenting Islamophobia globally. The initiative is housed within Georgetown’s Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding (ACMCU). Although Georgetown operates a satellite campus in Qatar, the Bridge Initiative, which is part of Georgetown’s main Washington, D.C. campus, has not been publicly linked to the Qatari government previously.
FARA requires parties acting on behalf of a foreign government, person, or organization to “register with the U.S. government, make a public record of the nature of their principal-agent relationship, and maintain all private records for official inspection.”
The Brandeis Center argued that Georgetown breached FARA by not reporting a transfer of money between Georgetown and the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as a stipulation that a Qatari ministry would “consult” with Georgetown leaders of the Bridge Initiative regarding speakers and themes of research. The Center’s letter stated that Georgetown failed to disclose its activities as a “foreign agent of Qatar,” arguing that the university’s obligations under the contract between the Bridge Initiative and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs satisfied the legal definition of acting as a foreign agent.
“The letter argues that Georgetown’s activities constitute both “political activities” and the work of a “publicity agent” as defined under the statute, and that the university has an obligation to register under FARA that it has failed to fulfill,” the Center wrote in a press release.
The university did not immediately respond to the Voice’s request for comment.
The U.S. Department of Education (ED) launched a public transparency portal detailing foreign funding disclosure in Jan. 2026, requiring higher education institutions to disclose foreign-source gifts and contracts above $250,000. The portal’s February data did not show any foreign gift entries matching the $630,000 Georgetown allegedly received in the contract. However, the contract between the Bridge Initiative and Qatar was to be disbursed in three installments of $210,000 from 2024 to 2026, which is lower than the required disclosure threshold.
If the DOJ pursues legal action against Georgetown for this alleged FARA violation, the university could face punishment and civil enforcement measures. Under the law, willful violations of FARA—such as knowingly failing to disclose foreign-directed activities—can also carry criminal penalties, including fines of up to $250,000 and prison sentences of up to five years.
“There is no doubt that Qatar constitutes a foreign principal,” the Center wrote. “Given the nature of the activities, they fall squarely within the scope of ‘Political Activities’ as defined by the law.”
The Brandeis Center is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the civil and human rights of Jewish people through research and legal advocacy. In 2025, Georgetown garnered separate legal attention when conservative legal and pro-Israel advocacy groups argued that Qatar’s financial relationship with the university may shape academic programming and public messaging surrounding Israel.
In March this year, the U.S. House Committee on Education and Workforce (CEW) published a report investigating antisemitism on college campuses. According to a contract published in the report’s appendix, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the State of Qatar agreed to grant $630,000 to support Georgetown’s research related to Islamophobia, including its Bridge Initiative. The Brandeis Center took issue with a section of the contract that says that Georgetown will “consult with” the ministry regarding the themes and speakers of conferences hosted by the Bridge Initiative.
“The University’s Bridge Initiative is committed, annually and throughout the duration of this Agreement, to organizing international conferences on the Globalization of Islamophobia and similar themes for the purpose of furthering and disseminating research on this topic.” the contract said. “During that process, it will consult with the Islam and Muslims Initiative, which is supported by the Ministry, and consider recommendations regarding sessions, themes and speakers.”
The Islam and Muslims Initiative is an international platform supported by Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs that aims to promote dialogue between Muslims and non-Muslims, counter growing Islamophobia, and clarify the misconceptions regarding the Islamic faith, according to an archive of its webpage from 2023. The webpage, which is linked in the initiative’s X account, cannot currently be accessed as it leads to a broken link.
However, the contract also stated that the university would be responsible for conducting its events and activities in D.C. and has discretion to “select and formulate the topics of the sessions and its participants.”
“The Ministry may not direct the Bridge Initiative’s research, scholarship, or teaching, or receive the benefits thereof; and (b) nothing in this Agreement is intended to or should be construed to restrict the academic freedom of the University, or the Bridge Initiative, or the University’s faculty, students, and staff,” the contract said.
The Brandeis Center’s letter also alleged that the contract enabled Georgetown to create “propaganda” on behalf of Qatar, arguing that this relationship enabled the university to disseminate messaging favourable to the Qatari state. The Brandeis Center says that this amounts to the university acting as a “publicity agent,” something it would be required to disclose to the U.S. government.
“These so-called conferences and events are simply the presentation of speakers deemed acceptable to Qatar to promote Qatar’s point of view in the United States,” the letter said. “Indeed, by running the money through an ostensibly objective institution, it goes to the heart of what the law was originally intended to address – the secret creation of propaganda under the direction of a foreign nation.”
The contract is set to be enforced for three years from the execution date, and the documents indicate that a Georgetown administrator signed the contract on Jun. 28, 2024. It is unclear which, if any, Bridge Initiative events Georgetown consulted with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about.
Georgetown University has received $1.1 billion in funding from Qatar since founding its Qatari campus in 2005, according to the ED’s portal. The figures come amid renewed scrutiny of foreign investment in U.S. universities, as the Trump administration has sought greater transparency around overseas funding and its alleged influence on American higher education institutions.
Furthermore, the contract clarified that the grant was for “charitable purposes only” and that the Ministry should not bear responsibility for any programming.
“The responsibility for the implementation of the activities and programs contemplated by this Agreement lies exclusively with the University. The Ministry bears no responsibility for any claims associated with the implementation of the activities and programs of the University,” the contract said. “The University expressly exempts the Ministry (including its representatives and agents) from any claim or liability relating to the Grant.”
Despite this clause, the Brandeis Center’s letter alleged that Georgetown would be acting on behalf of Qatar in its programming of conferences and events.
“GU has little discretion on this spending; it spends on the speakers that Qatar designates and pays for events,” the Center wrote. “Thus, it is simply the disbursing agent on behalf of Qatar and would be within the reach of [subsection iii].”
Subsection (iii) of FARA identifies an “agent of foreign principal” to be any person who “within the United States solicits, collects, disburses, or dispenses contributions, loans, money, or other things of value for or in the interest of such foreign principal.” The Center’s letter alleged that the contract limits Georgetown’s discretion over its speakers and disburses funds to speakers on behalf of Qatar. However, the contract did not require Georgetown to use its funds on speakers selected by Qatar.
“This Agreement shall not entail an obligation of either Party to conduct any activity, exchange any information, or incur any additional expenses or costs,” the contract said.
The March CEW report questioned whether universities can uphold principles of free expression while partnering with foreign governments. According to the report, Qatari officials allegedly urged American universities in Doha to remain “aligned and in touch” in their public communications after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks.
“Northwestern and Georgetown’s satellite campuses in Qatar are failing in critical ways to fulfill their stated goal of promoting Western values and liberal education abroad, including with respect to their commitment to Title VI principles,” the report says. “These campuses host faculty, students, and programming that perpetuate antisemitism without apparent consequence, in addition to struggling to uphold free speech principles.”
Additionally, the Center’s letter alleged that Qatar’s financial compensation creates a “sense of obligation” on Georgetown’s part, reflecting the country’s broader interactions with the university.
“The requests are specific, they are directly addressed to Georgetown in a legally enforceable document, they are clearly compensated since funds are flowing into Georgetown’s pockets and are part of a larger relationship that Georgetown clearly would not want to jeopardize,” the Center wrote.
Note: This story is developing and will be updated. Georgetown University has not yet publicly responded to the concerns raised in the report.
