Feds launch Civil Rights Fraud Initiative
The Justice Department on Monday launched a new Civil Rights Fraud Initiative that will use the False Claims Act to investigate and pursue claims against federally funded entities that knowingly violate civil rights laws — including colleges and universities.
The act, originally passed by Congress in 1863 to address fraud by defense contractors during the Civil War, will now be used to work to ensure universities and others do not allow civil rights abuses, such as favoring one race over another.
“Institutions that take federal money only to allow anti-Semitism and promote divisive DEI policies are putting their access to federal funds at risk,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi stated in a news release announcing the initiative.
The act allows private citizens to file complaints on behalf of the government, called “qui tam” lawsuits, against those who have allegedly defrauded the government, the department stated, adding those who successfully bring qui tam actions may receive a portion of the recovery.
Essentially, whistleblowers get a share of any fines, which means universities that hide pro-DEI efforts by renaming them or conducting them under the radar would be at risk from campus employees who want to out them to potentially earn a payout, as The College Fix previously reported.
“[A] university that accepts federal funds could violate the False Claims Act when it encourages antisemitism, refuses to protect Jewish students,...
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