Dr. Soon didn't get grants or federal money to do research on climate change. Aside from his part time job at the Smithsonian, he was paid millions by the "for profit" fossil fuel industry to produce research that would cast doubt on the GW science.
Well let's check how valid your claim is.
Do you have any doubt of the tax status of the Charles G. Koch Foundation?
How about the American Petroleum Institute?
Both clearly non profit organizations.
You say he did not get grants, Why is it that greenpeace has a whole page
listing Grants awarded to Dr. Soon?
CASE STUDY: Dr. Willie Soon, a Career Fueled by Big Oil and Coal | Greenpeace
Keep in mind, I am not actually defending Dr. Willie Soon, but pointing out that
the funding source and the Science have very little to do with each other.
The organization who wants to sponsor research issues a RFP,(Request For Proposals).
Researchers submit proposals showing how they can best do the research.
The winning proposal gets the grant, does the research, and writes a followup report( read deliverable).
For public sponsored research grants, the researchers are allowed to also publish their findings.
Other that being able to justify how the money spent, applied to the grant research,
the grant issuing organization has no control over the outcome of the research.
If they want to attach Dr. Soon, they should do it with Science.
I don't know much about his work, other that his theory says all the observed warming can be attributable
to changes in solar intensity.
If it is a valid theory, it should have an invalidation criteria, and should be allowed to be presented
and argued on it's Scientific merit, or lack there of!
To try and silence all opposing thought is not Science, but totalitarianism.