Justice Dept. Sues Harvard Over Antisemitism

0:00This is Cory with the story. Keeping Durham in the know, you're listening to Durham news today. The Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Harvard University on Friday, accusing its leaders of ignoring anti-Semitism on campus. Officials say this violates federal civil rights laws and could lead to freezing current grants plus recovering billions in past taxpayer money, already given to the school. This move ramps up a long-running clash between the Trump administration and Harvard. Earlier, the government cut over $2.6 billion in research funding and tried to block international students, but a federal judge stepped in last December and reversed those actions, calling the anti-Semitism claims a cover. Harvard has pushed back hard, filing its own suits and insisting the penalties punish it for not adopting the government's views on campus issues. The university says anti-Semitism is unacceptable and it's already taking real steps to fight bias against Jewish students and faculty. A federal task force wrapped up a civil rights probe in June, ruling Harvard willfully allow anti-Semitic harassment, negotiations nearly

1:05led to deals, like Harvard paying $500 million last year, but talks stalled when demands jump to one billion. Meanwhile, the Trump team has hit other top schools too, freezing billions in grants over similar worries about left-leaning bias and anti-Semitism. Some, like Columbia with $200 million and Brown with $50 million, settled to get funding back, leaving Harvard's fight now in court.