Anwar Al-Awlaki, pictured here at Dar al Hijrah Mosque on Oct. 4, 2001, in Falls Church, Virginia, was an American-born jihadist who was killed in a drone strike in Yemen in 2011. (Tracy Woodward/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Social media accounts erupted this week with a copy of a document reportedly showing USAID also funded al-Awlaki's tuition to Colorado State University. The document, which investigative reporters unearthed and posted to X over the weekend, shows that a USAID form dated June 1990 outlined al-Awlaki was reportedly granted funding to attend the college by fraudulently claiming he was a Yemeni national and qualified for an exchange visa.
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Al-Awlaki was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1971 to parents from Yemen. He was raised both in the U.S. and Yemen, U.S. media reported in 2011 following his death.
The unearthed document previously was reported by George Washington University's research and archival institution, the National Security Archive, Fox Digital found.
Anwar al-Awlaki worked as a Muslim cleric in cities such as Denver, San Diego and Falls Church, Virginia, before moving to Yemen in 2004. Patricia Morris and Imam al-Awlaki, right, are photographed inside Dar al Hijrah Mosque in Falls Church, Virginia. (Tracy A. Woodward/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Fox News Digital reached out to Colorado State University's media team for comment on the document and al-Awlaki's attendance but did not immediately receive a reply.
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He earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Colorado State University in 1994, according to previous media reports on his 2011 death.
He worked as a Muslim cleric in cities such as Denver, San Diego and Falls Church, Virginia, before moving to Yemen in 2004. Al-Awlaki was preaching at a San Diego mosque in 2000 when he reportedly first met Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi, two of the 9/11 hijackers.
President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk attend the launch of a SpaceX Starship rocket in November 2024. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
The unearthed document reportedly connecting al-Awlaki to USAID funding comes amid the Trump administration's apparent dismantling of the agency. Signage for the agency was removed from its headquarters in early February, while the USAID website was shut down and previously only showed a message stating "direct-hire personnel" would be placed on leave Feb. 7, except those on "mission-critical functions, core leadership and specially designated programs."
A federal judge on Friday ordered a temporary block to the Trump administration's plan to put roughly 2,200 employees of the agency on leave. The order remains in effect until at least Feb. 14.
Democrats and government employees have railed against DOGE and its chair, Elon Musk, including USAID employees calling DOGE's investigation a "mafia-like takeover" of the agency and reporting they are "psychologically frightened" he would share their private data publicly.
Trump said during an interview with Fox News' Bret Baier, which aired Sunday, that DOGE and his administration remain on a mission to cut government waste.
"We have to solve the efficiency problem," Trump said. "We have to solve the fraud, waste, abuse, all the things that have gone into the government. You take a look at the USAID, the kind of fraud in there."
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