The legal system in this country has long prided itself on supplying justice in a measured way. Government officials are required to abide by an elaborate set of procedures before they can impose penalties on anyone. But all that seems to have fallen by the wayside in the second Trump administration. Nowhere has that been more evident than in its dealings with Harvard University.
On May 15, the New York Times published an article under the headline “Trump Administration Escalates Harvard Feud With New Justice Dept. Investigation.” It reported that “the Trump administration is investigating whether Harvard’s admissions policies comply with a Supreme Court ruling that ended affirmative action, opening a new front in its widening effort to bring the institution to heel.” The Justice Department is trying to determine whether Harvard’s admissions process has been used “to defraud the government” in violation of the False Claims Act. That act was never intended for such a purpose.
