On Monday, after Harvard University publicly rejected a series of authoritarian requests from the Trump administration officials sent to Harvard previous on Friday, one of those officials tried a new de -escalation technique: he frantically called the University and insisted that the letter had been sent by mistake.
This letter of origin, sent on April 11, ordered Harvard to comply with numerous bizarre requests, including what interrupts diversity efforts, limiting or prohibiting students' protests, Installation of right -wing teachers essentially selected by the administration and spy on international students.
Harvard president Alan Garber condemned these requests A declaration published Le Matin of April 14Saying in part: “No government – whatever the ruling party – should dictate what private universities can teach, what they can admit and hire and what areas of study and investigation they can pursue. The university will not renounce its independence or will not renounce its constitutional rights. ”
But the New York Times Friday reported Shortly after Garber's letter was made public, Josh Gruenbaum, a high -level lawyer of the General Services Administration, made “a frantic call” to one of the lawyers of Harvard and insisted that the letter was “unauthorized” and should not have been sent.
From there things become more troubled. The NYT reports that three different officials from Trump, speaking anonymously, said that there were “different accounts” about what really happened and why.
Meanwhile, the strategist for the Policy of the White House May Maidman actually told Nyt that the administration was near the letter. Curiously, she also declared in a statement that “it was a professional fault on the side of the lawyers of Harvard” not to have called the White House before returning public the requests of the letter.
In the own statement to NYT, Harvard closed the assertion of Mailman, noting that the letter “was signed by three federal officials, placed on the official header paper, was sent from the e-mail reception box of a high federal official and was sent on April 11 as promised. The recipients of their correspondence on the part of the United States government – even when it contains radical requirements. ”
“It is not clear to us that, among the recent words and acts of the government, were errors or what the government really wanted to do and say. But even if the letter was a mistake, the actions that the government has taken this week have real consequences “on students and employees and” the position of US higher education worldwide, “said the press release.
Since Monday, the Trump administration has only degenerated things. On Tuesday, he frozen Harvard's public funding in order to punish the school for retalling. And on Wednesday, Trump himself ordered the IRS to revoke the school exemption status of the school. Until now, this drastic stage has not occurred – and legal experts say that Harvard will likely gain a legal challenge that it brings if it happens.
The post Trump officials tried to claim that Harvard's letter was sent by mistake after the university publicly rejected requests appeared first on Test.
