(CLO) President Donald Trump has fired the top inspector of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) as soon as information emerged that the agency had funded college tuition for an al-Qaeda terrorist linked to the 9/11 hijackers.
Paul Martin, who will serve as USAID inspector general through 2023, received an email from a White House official on Tuesday saying he was fired effective immediately.
Information about Paul Martin on the USAID website. Screenshot.
The letter did not give a reason for Martin's removal, and the White House declined to comment on the decision.
Around the same time Martin was fired, newly discovered documents showed that USAID had spent tens of thousands of dollars to fund tuition for Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born jihadist who attended Colorado State University in 1990.
According to the documents, al-Awlaki lied on his admissions application, claiming he was born in Yemen instead of New Mexico in order to qualify for federal tuition assistance worth more than $27,000 at the time.
Al-Awlaki graduated with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering in 1994 with the help of this grant, and then preached Islam at mosques across the United States. US officials believe he used this position to radicalize and recruit terrorists.
After years of activity, al-Awlaki was ordered killed by the US administration under President Barack Obama in a US airstrike in Yemen in 2011.
On January 20, Mr. Trump signed an order freezing most of USAID’s foreign aid funding, and he tasked billionaire Elon Musk with downsizing the agency.
Last week, the Trump administration tried to put most USAID employees on furlough or administrative leave, but the plan was blocked by a judge on Friday.
Cao Phong (according to NYP, CNN)
Source: https://www.congluan.vn/tong-thanh-tra-usaid-bi-sa-thai-sau-bao-cao-tai-tro-cho-khung-bo-post334284.html
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