Political pressure, lack of evidence plagued government antisemitism probes targeting universities

A former Justice Department lawyer, Haley Van Erem, alleged in a whistleblower disclosure that a Trump administration task force created to combat antisemitism pressured Ivy League universities into settlements despite rushed or incomplete investigations that often lacked evidence of legal violations. The complaint, filed with inspectors general, claims investigations into institutions like Brown, Harvard, and Columbia were politically motivated, with "predetermined outcomes, without regard to the evidence," to extract money through settlement demands and funding freezes. Van Erem, who left the Justice Department in May 2025, stated she was "unwilling to be made vulnerable to further participation in politically motivated investigations unsupported by facts and contrary to law." Representative Jamie Raskin, a key House Democrat, supported the allegations, stating the "investigation' into antisemitism was fake, a pre-baked frame-up operation thoroughly political in nature."