Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for civil rights at the Justice Department, told Newsmax on Wednesday she has had enough of Harvard University dragging its feet.
Dhillon appeared on "Ed Henry The Big Take" after the Justice Department announced it was suing Harvard for withholding race-related admissions documents.
Federal investigators say the documents are needed to determine whether the university is complying with civil rights laws following the Supreme Court's ruling ending affirmative action in college admissions.
"After months of negotiations with Harvard, where we tried to get them to comply with their federal statutory obligation to provide this data to us, we finally threw in the towel and said, 'we've had it,'" Dhillon said.
"They're clearly playing games, and they're not serious about settling with the United States," Dhillon added.
"We've gone to court to enforce our right as the Department of Justice to review this data," she added.
"Every other agency gives them money, so we have the right to get this information," Dhillon continued.
"But every other agency that gives them money also has the right to this data, and you have to wonder what they're hiding."
Dhillon noted that in 2023, the Supreme Court ruled Harvard may no longer discriminate on the basis of race against Asians and whites.
"And yet, it appears from recent data that's been publicly disclosed, they're definitely continuing to discriminate against whites," Dhillon said.
"So let them prove otherwise. I don't know why they're hiding it."
Harvard has been a central focus of the administration's broader campaign to leverage federal funding to force changes at U.S. universities, which Trump says are gripped by antisemitic and "radical left" ideologies.
The administration previously canceled hundreds of grants awarded to Harvard researchers, saying the school failed to do enough to address harassment of Jewish students on its campus, prompting Harvard to sue.
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Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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