The Trump administration continued to pursue a settlement agreement with Brown over antisemitism allegations despite a lack of evidence, a complaint released on Tuesday alleges.
In the complaint, former U.S. Department of Justice attorney Haley Van Erem and her colleagues, whose names were redacted, allege that the outcomes of the Trump administration’s investigations into antisemitism at Brown, Columbia and Harvard were “predetermined, without regard to the evidence.”
“While at the DOJ, Ms. Haley Van Erem did not work on university investigations,” a DOJ spokesperson wrote in a message to The Herald. “And for all matters, the Department stands behind the integrity of these investigations.”
Last year, the Trump administration formed its multi-agency Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism, following reports of antisemitic incidents during protests related to Israel’s military operations in Gaza. The Task Force launched several investigations into universities’ compliance with Title VI, which bans discrimination on race or national origin by any program receiving federal funds.
The investigations were “marked by extraordinary procedural irregularities, predetermined outcomes without factual or legal support, and disregard for Title VI’s legal requirements and the First Amendment to meet the political mission” of the DOJ entity tasked with undertaking them, the complaint reads.
As a result of the DOJ’s investigation into Brown, the University entered into an agreement with the...
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