In his telling, his alma mater had devolved into a bastion of bigotry that public money should not underwrite. He said the admin could choose, if it wished, to direct its largess toward other institutions. The case, he argued, was more about money for #Harvard than any profound matters like #FreeSpeech.

Judge Burroughs suggested that Harvard might very well not be such a titan of American academia if the #Trump admin’s cuts stand.

Velchik, himself a #Harvard alumnus, scrambled on Monday to argue that the government was not seeking to decapitate Harvard. Naming a handful of luminaries who had studied at Harvard — Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., President John F. Kennedy and even the actor Matt Damon — he insisted that the government was seeking to strengthen and reshape an important American institution that had lost its way.

“What I’m wrestling with is this idea that the executive branch can decide what is discriminatory or racist,” she said, and then make “these ad hoc decisions without any procedure around it.”

She also appeared dismissive of the government’s contention that a different court, one dealing with financial disputes, should be hearing the case instead of her own.

#Harvard, he said, “should have read the fine print.”

Harvard has sharply disputed the idea that it condones discrimination. Steven P. Lehotsky, a lawyer for Harvard, told Judge Burroughs on Monday that the #Trump admin’s quest to punish Harvard was a “blatant, unrepentant violation of the #FirstAmendment.”

He added, “It’s the constitutional third rail, or it should be, for the government to insist it can engage in viewpoint discrimination.”

…Michael Velchik, the #DOJ lawyer at the hearing, asserted on Monday that the #Trump admin had the #power to decide where it spent taxpayer money.

“The choice was that the government does not want to fund research at institutions that fail to address antisemitism to its satisfaction,” he said, arguing that #Harvard’s rejection of the admin’s terms freed the admin to terminate any contracts with the #university.

The judge unleashed a barrage of pointed questions at the lone #DOJ lawyer. She demanded to know, for instance, how the #Trump admin could reasonably tie withdrawal of #medical #research #funding to concerns about the civil rights of Jewish people.

And she appeared bothered by the admin’s hurried approach to attacking #Harvard’s research funding, suggesting there were potentially “staggering” constitutional consequences if the govt could punish a #university without #DueProcess.

@heidilifeldman Damn. This is just one small clip, but speaks to the treatment:

"in April at the downtown Miami jail, staff turned off a surveillance camera and a “disturbance control team” brutalized detainees who were protesting a lack of medical attention to one of their number who was coughing up blood."

“We’ve️been in touch with Hernández Romero’s legal team & they’ve confirmed he’s back in VE. We’re grateful he’s alive & are engaged with both the St Dept & his team.”
-Rep Garcia

“Maduro has indicated: the men will not be immediately detained.

This story: a major PR talking pt for his govt. They’re saying: they “rescued” the men in CECOT, so for now they’ll all have PR on their side. After the Trump admin imprisoned him in SLV w/o #dueprocess -case: quietly dismissed.”
#Immigrants #USPol

"IMPORTANT CONTEXT for todays' news that the men are being released as part of a US-Venezuela prisoner swap.

We used INNOCENT PEOPLE as pawns. It is a huge black eye on the US, a stain that will take a long time for us to ever wipe away."
-A Reichlin-Melnick

Articles on the possible "prisoner exchange" between the US, El Salvador, and Venezuela:
#Immigrants #DueProcess #CECOT #Deportations #DHS #TrumpRegime #ICE #USPol
https://www.straitstimes.com/world/el-salvador-to-send-detained-venezuelans-to-caracas-in-prison-swap-for-americans-sources-say

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/el-salvador-send-detained-venezuelans-caracas-prison-swap-americans-sources-say-2025-07-18/