White House holding brainstorming meeting to find new ways to attack Harvard: report

Meeting comes as federal judge blocks administration effort to prohibit school from enrolling international students

The White House held a brainstorming session Wednesday to find new ways to attack Harvard, according to Politico.

Officials from almost a dozen agencies took part in the meeting to come up with further disciplinary measures against the school. An administration official told the outlet that further actions are expected to come from the departments of State, Treasury, Health and Human Services, and Justice, as well as others. They may come to fruition as soon as next month.

The meeting took place as the White House is taking further aim at Harvard after a federal judge blocked the administration’s measure to prohibit the school from enrolling international students.

Last week, Trump threatened in a social media post to revoke Harvard’s tax-exempt status. During a press conference on Wednesday, the president slammed the school.

“Harvard is treating our country with great disrespect, and all they’re doing is getting in deeper and deeper and deeper,” he said.

Harvard students graduated as the administration plotted ways to attack the university (AFP via Getty Images)

Options to put the screws to the school include pushing the Justice Department to expand its probe into Harvard’s admissions policies or cutting funds to medical institutions with ties to the university.

“The latest moves against Harvard are truly just scratching the surface,” Harrison Fields, a White House spokesperson, told Politico. “Harvard decided to litigate this on MSNBC, the now defunded NPR, and the ratings-disaster CNN, instead of acting like adults like many of their competitors have done and engaging in fruitful conversations and actions that would have saved them from their self-inflicted demise.”

However, some administration officials are concerned that the White House may be overstepping. One official told the outlet that the administration is “fighting a losing battle.” The official noted that the school has a better hand to play when it comes to the narrative surrounding the measure to revoke student visas.

“We’ve taken one of the most evil institutions and made them the victim,” the official added.

The Trump White House has also taken aim at other Ivy League schools and the University of California system. The tactic is part of a wider push against cultural institutions that the administration views as oppositional, including some law firms, and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

A deal to avoid confrontation with Harvard was in the offing until a letter was mistakenly sent on April 11, which included a number of demands. Since the letter was sent, the administration has frozen $2.2 billion in research grants, and ended another $60 million in contracts.

It has also cut 500 grants from the National Institutes of Health for institutions with ties to the university. In addition, the White House has barred Harvard from receiving grants in the future and launched a number of investigations by the departments of Justice, Health, Education, and Homeland Security, as well as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Harvard pushed back by suing the administration.

On Thursday, a Massachusetts federal judge blocked the administration’s attempt to stop international students from attending. The block will stay in place while Harvard and the administration negotiate a possible injunction that would hold the status quo in place as the case progresses.