Trump officials believe ‘unauthorized’ letter sent in error set off Harvard clash – NYT

Officials from the Trump administration believe a letter that set off a clash with Harvard University may have been sent in error, The New York Times reports.

The “unauthorized” letter from acting general counsel of the Department of Health and Human Services, Sean Keveney, a member of the antisemitism task force, should not have been sent, two officials familiar with the matter tell the newspaper.

However, a senior White House official tells the Times that the administration stands by the letter and blames Harvard for not holding talks, but says there is a path back to talks on the matter.

“It was malpractice on the side of Harvard’s lawyers not to pick up the phone and call the members of the antisemitism task force who they had been talking to for weeks,” May Mailman, the White House senior policy strategist tells the Times. “Instead, Harvard went on a victimhood campaign.”

Harvard pushes back at the claim that it should have held discussions with government lawyers after receiving the letter.

The letter “was signed by three federal officials, placed on official letterhead, was sent from the email inbox of a senior federal official and was sent on April 11 as promised,” Harvard tells the newspaper. “Recipients of such correspondence from the US government — even when it contains sweeping demands that are astonishing in their overreach — do not question its authenticity or seriousness.”

Trump’s administration has threatened universities with federal funding cuts over pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel campus protests against Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, sparked by the deadly October 2023 onslaught by the terror group that killed some 1,200 people and saw another 251 taken hostage.

Trump casts the protesters as foreign policy threats who are antisemitic and sympathetic to Hamas. The Trump administration is also attempting to deport some foreign protesters and has revoked hundreds of visas across the country.

A swath of American Jewry is alarmed about the Trump administration’s crackdown due to perceived threats to due process and free speech while acknowledging that action is needed to combat rampant antisemitism.

Harvard has previously said it worked to fight antisemitism and other prejudice on its campus while preserving academic freedoms and the right to protest.