Trump lawyer says Justice Department intends to file lawsuits over anti-Semitism allegations
Justice Department officials lead Trump’s fight with Harvard University – resulting in multiple lawsuits, and the school lost billions of dollars in federal funds.
Leo Terrell, senior legal counsel for the Department of Justice Civil Rights, is leading a multi-policy task force to combat anti-Semitism and said in a Fox News interview on Tuesday that there will be “there will be “massive lawsuits targeted.” [the] UC Systems and other universities are located on the east coast of the Midwest West Coast. ”
Terrell added: “Expect the federal government for hate crime charges. Title VII lawsuit is expected. In addition to Harvard and six other U.S. campuses, the task force also picked out UCLA, USC and UC Berkeley.
Speaking separately with the Jewish News Corp., Trail said the campuses include Columbia, George Washington, Johns Hopkins, New York and Northwestern University and the University of Minnesota — all rejected task force investigators. He said the task force announced in March that there have been no visits to campus, students and law enforcement due to “resistance.”
Terrell, a civil rights lawyer who previously worked in Los Angeles, was a Fox News personality and did not elaborate on the “resistance” comments or respond to the New York Times email asking for an interview and detail details about the investigation and pending litigation.
A spokesman for the University of California said in a statement that the university “has abhorred anti-Semitism and is working to address, fight back and eliminate all forms of the entire system.”
“We have been and plan to continue working with the government. Anti-Semitism has no place in UC or society,” said Rachel Zaentz, senior director of strategy and key communications. “The university remains entirely focused on strengthening our programs and policies to root anti-Semitism and all forms of discrimination.”
UC has not released information on whether the task force has visited the campus or what UCLA and UC Berkeley requested.
A USC spokesperson did not answer questions about whether the task force visited the campus.
“The University continues to publicly, explicitly condemn all forms of anti-Semitism and has taken strong actions to protect all our students, including members of our Jewish community, from any form of illegal discrimination,” the University said in a statement. “University of Southern California is honored to attract one of the largest Jewish student groups in the country. We look forward to working with the Task Force to fight anti-Semitism with USC.”
Terrell’s group also said in February that it will meet with the mayors of Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Boston. A spokesperson for the office of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass did not answer questions about whether the Los Angeles meeting was already held. Terrell said on Fox News that he was “ecstatic” about a recent meeting with New York Mayor Eric Adams, which Terrell called “the new partner.”
In March, the education department sent letters to sixty campuses warning them to “protect Jewish students” or “face potential law enforcement.” These include four UC campuses – San Diego, Santa Barbara, Berkeley and Davis – as well as the University of Southern California, Pomona College, Stanford, Chapman University, Santa Monica College and Sacramento State University.
The same month, the Justice Department said it had conducted a civil rights investigation into the University of California on allegations of anti-Semitism, saying its lawyers believe there is a “potential pattern” of discrimination against Jewish employees in the state’s flagship higher education system.
Harvard University has been attacked by the White House, which accused the country’s oldest university professor topping thing the Anterymism of being linked to the Pro-Palestinian protests in Gaza, triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
Harvard University cut off the Trump administration’s indictment in a Boston-based federal judge last week after it was cut off from its indictment in a multi-billion-dollar federal medical research and other funding and after its ability to enroll in schools. A hearing on foreign student cases will be held Thursday.
Harvard University has said it supports addressing concerns about anti-Semitic sentiment, but believes Trump threatens academic freedom by demanding reshaping its governance, admissions practices, ideological diversity and student discipline.
The federal office, including the Education, Justice and Health and Public Services, has attracted attention this year’s attention, but Harvard and Columbia are facing the strongest action.
