House Committee Subpoenas Columbia in Antisemitism Probe

Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., chair of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, issued six subpoenas Wednesday to Columbia University for its failure to provide information regarding its handling of on-campus antisemitism following Iranian-backed Hamas' Oct. 7 terrorist attack in Israel.

The committee said in a news release that six people were subpoenaed, including Interim President Katrina Armstrong, who took over last week following the resignation of Minouche Shafik, and the co-chairs and vice chairs of the university's board of trustees.

Columbia's upper Manhattan campus was at the center of a protest movement connected to Israel's military operation in the Gaza Strip that was launched after the terror attack. The protests swept across college campuses nationwide, leading to thousands of arrests and the disruption of graduation ceremonies.

"Columbia should be a partner in our efforts to ensure Jewish students have a safe learning environment on its campus, but instead, university administrators have slow-rolled the investigation, repeatedly failing to turn over necessary documents," Foxx said in the news release. "The information we have obtained points to a continued pattern of negligence toward antisemitism and a refusal to stand up to the radical students and faculty responsible for it.

"The goal of this investigation has always been to protect Jewish students and faculty, and if compulsory measures are necessary to obtain the documents the Committee requires, so be it."

The subpoenaed documents include communications by custodians of documents, such as Shafik, members of the board, and other senior leadership; records of trustee meetings; and information on student and faculty disciplinary proceedings.

The request specifically mentions communications regarding the alleged spraying of a foul-smelling chemical on campus at a Jan. 19 pro-Palestinian rally; the conduct of Khymani James, a former student who was banned from campus after a video resurfaced of James saying "Zionists don't deserve to live"; and university appointments involving Joseph Massad, a tenured professor who wrote an article describing Hamas' terrorist attack as "astounding" and "awesome."

In a letter Wednesday to Armstrong that contained copies of the subpoenas, Foxx wrote that her committee launched its investigation into Columbia's response to on-campus antisemitism on Feb. 16 "and sent the university a document request letter."

"The requested documents are essential in aiding the committee's consideration of potential legislation to combat antisemitism in postsecondary institutions and toward fulfilling the committee’s oversight responsibility," wrote Foxx, who threatened Aug. 1 to subpoena Columbia if it did not comply with the committee's requests.

"Despite the committee's numerous efforts to identify its priorities, Columbia has failed to satisfy these requests," Foxx wrote. "Specifically, Columbia has failed to produce a substantial number of text and electronic messages for a majority of the custodians identified by the committee.

"Columbia has failed to provide notes, summaries, recordings, or other materials providing detailed contemporaneous records of board meetings. While Columbia has now provided an initial list of student disciplinary cases, it only includes incidents since April 17."

Foxx and Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., chair of the Ways and Means Committee, were tapped in April by Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to lead a House-wide committee investigation into the rise of antisemitic activity on university campuses.

On Thursday, they wrote a letter to 10 university administrators, including Armstrong, seeking what policies, procedures, and concrete measures their institutions will be implementing to prevent a resurgence of disruptions on campus, antisemitic harassment, and intimidation of Jewish students returning to campus this fall.

Newsmax reached out to Columbia University for comment.