Lawyers are raising alarm bells over what they claim is political manipulation by the Department of Justice (DoJ) regarding its investigation into antisemitism at the University of California. According to reports, attorneys within the DoJ felt pressured to label the university as discriminatory towards Jewish students and faculty, allegedly at the behest of the Trump administration. One attorney characterized this push as a ‘hit job.’
In a revealing account shared with the Los Angeles Times, nine attorneys—some of whom chose to remain anonymous—described their experiences during the federal inquiry into the University of California system. They expressed that they were coerced into concluding that the university had breached legal standards before fully grasping the facts of the situation. Ultimately, all the attorneys involved resigned from their positions.
"The political appointees essentially determined the outcome almost before the investigation had even started," stated Jen Swedish, a former DoJ lawyer who was involved in the case against the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
The focus of the investigation was rooted in allegations of antisemitism linked to pro-Palestinian protests occurring on UC campuses. This wave of activism coincided with widespread demonstrations against the war in Gaza, reflecting a broader trend of student engagement across universities in the United States.
Since the beginning of the year, the Trump administration has intensified scrutiny on university campuses nationwide, targeting pro-Palestinian activism, initiatives promoting diversity and inclusion, and academic freedom. As part of this crackdown, the federal government has initiated multiple lawsuits against various campuses and threatened to cut off essential research funding in an attempt to enforce compliance among universities.
During the summer, the administration demanded that UCLA pay a staggering one billion dollars in fines and implement several new policies, claiming it needed to do so to regain over $500 million in grant funding.
However, just last month, a federal judge intervened by blocking the Trump administration’s attempts to withhold funding and impose fines on the University of California. The judge determined that the administration was using a "playbook of initiating civil rights investigations" as a means to withdraw federal funding and compel universities to alter their ideological stances.
The attorneys interviewed for the Los Angeles Times article painted a picture of hurried investigations, suggesting that political motivations overshadowed genuine concerns for justice. One attorney remarked that while there is indeed discrimination faced by Jewish individuals, the investigation itself was a "hit job" that ultimately would fail to assist anyone involved.
Earlier this year, the civil rights division of the US Department of Justice concluded that UCLA had permitted antisemitic discrimination to occur on campus amid the pro-Palestinian protests. In response, UCLA settled a lawsuit brought by Jewish students and a professor for $6.5 million, acknowledging that it had "fallen short" in addressing these issues adequately.
Ejaz Baluch, a former DoJ attorney, conveyed to the LA Times that UCLA was potentially on the brink of legal violations concerning how it handled civil rights complaints from its Jewish employees, noting there was indeed sufficient evidence to justify a lawsuit. Nonetheless, he cautioned that the proposed lawsuit had considerable weaknesses.
Another attorney involved went as far as to label the UCLA investigation as "fraudulent and [a] sham."
In a further twist, UCLA is currently facing its own lawsuit from pro-Palestinian protesters who allege that the university failed to act when a pro-Israel group launched a violent, hours-long assault on demonstrators.
As of now, neither the US Department of Justice nor the University of California has responded to requests for comments regarding these serious allegations.
