House GOP Calls on UPenn to Turn Over Records on Biden Center and China Funding

Top Republicans on three House investigative committees are demanding that the University of Pennsylvania release funding records on the school’s Penn Biden Center, a policy institute launched by President Joe Biden in 2017.

In a letter sent Thursday to University of Pennsylvania president Amy Gutmann, the lawmakers also asked for records related to the recent surge in donations to the university from China as well as information on any contracts and agreements between Penn and the Chinese government.

The university has received over $72 million from China since the Penn Biden Center opened—up from $21 million in the same time frame prior—prompting questions from watchdog groups and lawmakers about whether the uptick had any relation to the center.

“Understanding whether the University of Pennsylvania’s Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement (Biden Center) received funds from China or other adversarial nations at the behest of the Biden family or future Biden Administration officials will shed light on the depth and breadth of the potential improper influence these nations enjoy over the Biden family,” said the letter from House Committee on Oversight and Reform ranking member James Comer (R., Ky.), House Committee on the Judiciary ranking member Jim Jordan (R., Ohio), and the House Committee on Education and Labor ranking member Virginia Foxx (R., N.C.).

The lawmakers also said they are concerned about China’s efforts to influence U.S. academics. The Penn Biden Center, which was run by Biden’s secretary of state Antony Blinken and employed other Biden aides, has declined to disclose details about its funding.

The representatives asked Gutmann to provide the committees with “[a]ll unredacted records of gifts from, contracts or agreements with, and restricted or conditional gifts from or contracts with the Chinese government, the Communist Party of China, or any affiliated organizations, any Chinese national, or any businesses primarily located in China, for the period of January 1, 2013, to the present.”

They also requested “[a]ll information, documents, and communications between and among the University of Pennsylvania, any of its current or former employees or affiliates, and any of the parties included in request 1,” including communications with Biden, Blinken, and university administrators who oversee the global initiatives department that houses the Penn Biden Center.

The University of Pennsylvania has denied that there is a connection between its increase in funding from China and the Penn Biden Center.

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