Trump officials try to claim Harvard's letter was sent incorrectly after college publicly refused requests
On Monday, Harvard publicly rejected a series of dictatorial requests from Trump administration officials sent to Harvard last Friday, one of which tried to develop a novel downgrade technique: he frantically called the university and insisted that the letter was sent incorrectly.
The original letter, sent on April 11, ordered Harvard to comply with many quirky requirements, including efforts to stop diversity, limit or completely ban student protests, install right-wing teachers, essentially selected by the government, and monitor international students.
Harvard President Alan Garber condemned the demands in a statement released on the morning of April 14, saying: “No government has a government – no matter which party in power – should decide what private universities can teach, what areas they can acknowledge and hire, and what areas of study they can pursue.
But the New York Times reported Friday that shortly after Garber’s letter was published publicly, Josh Gruenbaum, the General Services Administration’s top lawyer, sent a “crazy call” to a Harvard attorney and insisted that the letter was “unauthorized” and should not be sent.
Things get even more blurred from here. NYT reported that three Trump officials said anonymously that there were “different accounts” about what actually happened and why.
Meanwhile, White House policy strategist May Mailman effectively told NYT the letter’s position. Strangely, she also said in a statement: “On the side of Harvard lawyers is malfeasance”, and do not call the White House before the request for a public letter.
Harvard closed Mellman's assertion in a statement to New York, New York, noting that the letter “is signed by three federal officials, signed onto an official letter, sent from the email inbox of a senior federal official and dispatched April 11. Recipients of such letters accepted by the U.S. government – even in the case of over-question, this is not within the scope of over-question, even if it is shockingly on it, it is a shocking attitude.
The statement continued: “In the recent speech and behavior of the government, what is wrong or what the government actually wants to do.
The Trump administration has only escalated things further since Monday. On Tuesday, it freezes public funds from Harvard to punish the school’s battle. Trump himself ordered the IRS to revoke the school’s tax-free status on Wednesday. So far, no drastic steps have occurred – if this happens, Harvard could win any legal challenges.
Trump postal officials tried to claim that Harvard's letter was sent incorrectly after the request for public rejection of universities first appeared on TheWrap.
