Harvard ‘absolutely failed’ to comply with unprecedented subpoena in antisemitism probe, House Education Committee chair says

By Matt Egan, CNN

New York (CNN) — Rep. Virginia Foxx, the Republican chairwoman of the House Education Committee, said Tuesday that Harvard University has failed to comply with her unprecedented subpoena for documents on campus antisemitism.

Foxx said in a statement that her committee is now “weighing an appropriate response to Harvard’s malfeasance.”

“Harvard has absolutely failed to comply in good faith with the Committee’s subpoena for information about antisemitism on its campus,” Foxx said.

Harvard turned over another trove of documents about campus antisemitism to Congress on Monday evening. The Ivy League school had faced a 5 pm ET deadline to respond to the Education Committee’s subpoena – the first to a university since the committee was founded in March 1867.

Foxx argued that heavy redactions by Harvard made several documents “useless,” while many others were duplicates of documents previously submitted.

“I don’t know if its arrogance, ineptness, or indifference that’s guiding Harvard. Regardless, its actions to date are shameful,” Foxx said.

A Harvard spokesperson denied to CNN that the university double counted previously submitted documents, standing by the school’s estimate of nearly 4,900 pages submitted to the committee since January.

Harvard had faced a Monday deadline to respond to the subpoena, which was issued on February 16 to three different Harvard officials: Alan Garber, Harvard’s interim president; Penny Pritzker, the billionaire leader of the Harvard Corporation, the school’s governing board; and N.P. Narvekar, the CEO of the Harvard Management Company.

The Education Committee did not detail specifically which steps lawmakers are now considering to enforce its subpoena.

“Never before has the Committee subpoenaed a university, and Chairwoman Foxx does not take that lightly,” a committee spokesperson told CNN. “The Committee is taking the time that this investigation deserves to follow the facts and decide next steps, hold Harvard accountable, and ultimately ensure Jewish students are afforded a safe learning environment on campus.”

In a statement Tuesday, US Rep. Elise Stefanik — a New York Republican — heavily criticized Harvard.

“This is more proof that Harvard and the Harvard Corporation Board Members know that they are in deep, deep legal trouble for their failure to protect Jewish students on campus and their subsequent cover up,” Stefanik said. “The absolute egregious and entitled malfeasance of Harvard in failing to fully comply with the subpoena will not be tolerated.”

As CNN has previously reported, criminal contempt  is one of three options Congress can pursue to enforce its subpoenas.

Another option is asking a court to enforce a congressional subpoena, a step known as civil contempt.

There’s also the extremely rare option of inherent contempt, which would involve asking the House or Senate sergeant-at-arms to detain or imprison a person found to be in contempt.

Harvard spokesperson Jason Newton said Monday evening that the university continues to respond “in good faith” to the committee’s inquiry, adding that it has now provided nearly 4,900 pages of information through 11 rounds of document submissions since January.

That response, according to Newton, includes “non-public information and internal communications” that the committee has requested.

“Harvard denounced antisemitism on our campus and have made clear that the University will continue to take actions to combat antisemitism in any form,” Newton said. “This includes ongoing efforts to engage with and learn from students, faculty and staff to identify the causes of antisemitic behaviors and address them when they occur on our campus.”

Harvard’s response on Monday included a four-page overview of steps the university has taken to fight antisemitism, including new security measures aimed at keeping students safe.

Harvard told lawmakers it has increased campus security in “potentially vulnerable” spaces, including student residences, increased police presence and patrols at locations and events where the Jewish community gathers and periodically restricted access to Harvard Yard to “limit outside disruptions.”

As CNN previously reported, Harvard told the House that officials have met with executives from anonymous social media app Sidechat following reports of a “disturbing rise in antisemitic posts.”

Like other campuses, Harvard has been challenged by protests against the Israeli military action in Gaza in the wake of the October 7 attack by Hamas. Harvard told lawmakers it will support the right to protest but not tolerate preventing students from exercising their right to learn, study, work and live. The university pointed to new guidance that emphasizes that “exercising the right to protest must not disrupt the University’s core work and campus life.”

This story has been updated with additional context and developments.

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