WASHINGTON (CN) — The Trump administration’s probe into antisemitic harassment at U.S. universities was hampered by political influence and officials ignored the advice of their investigative team when withholding millions of federal dollars from those institutions, according to whistleblowers.
The explosive accusations, revealed to members of Congress on Monday, came from a group of career Justice Department civil rights attorneys who say the interagency task force convened to address campus antisemitism was “subordinate to political priorities” and that task force leaders sidelined them when they raised questions.
The Trump administration last year formed a task force it said would “root out antisemitic harassment” in schools and universities. The interagency investigative team was created in response to pro-Palestine protests and demonstrations on U.S. campuses following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and Israel’s subsequent war on Gaza, which killed tens of thousand of Palestinians and displaced millions.
The task force, composed of representatives from the Justice Department, Health and Human Services Department, Education Department and other agencies, announced in March 2025 that the government had canceled roughly $400 million in grants to Columbia University, contending the institution had violated the Title VI rights of its Jewish and Israeli students by allowing “persistent harassment” on campus.
As many as 60 schools, including Harvard University and...
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