The new policy applies to pending scientific publications co-authored by employees in the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, which conducts research on crop yields, invasive species, plant genetics and other agricultural issues.
The USDA instructed employees to stop agency researchers from collaborating on or publishing papers with scientists from “countries of concern,” including China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia and Venezuela.
But the agency is also vetting scientists from nations not considered “countries of concern” before deciding whether USDA researchers can publish papers with them. Employees are including the names of foreign co-authors from nations such as Canada and Germany on lists shared with the department’s Office of Homeland Security, according to records reviewed by ProPublica. That office leads the USDA’s security initiatives and includes a division that works with federal intelligence agencies. The records don’t say what the office plans to do with the lists of names.
‘Executive office developing the infrastructure to blacklist scientists under the guise of national security.’
“Just don’t say anything that would upset Trump and you have nothing to worry about. Terrorists say things that upset Trump, you’re not a Terrorist are you?” - an anonymous source, we’ll refer to as Mtephen Siller, disclosed to an alt-right podcaster recently signed to a publication company who has pledged that their money is 100% from the US and from nowhere else.
