…When the federal prosecutors involved in the investigation of #student #protesters applied for a #warrant, a magistrate judge in NY rejected the request, finding that the govt did not have sufficient probable cause…

In an unusual move, #EmilBove insisted that the prosecutors appeal the ruling to a district court judge…. After weighing the request, Judge John Koeltl of Federal District Court of the SDNY instructed the chief magistrate judge, Sarah Netburn, to reconsider the application…

One of the #DOJ attys assigned to the case was Samantha Trepel, an experienced #CivilRights prosecutor who secured a federal conviction against #DerekChauvin, the police officer who killed #GeorgeFloyd….

The prosecutors were told…that #EmilBove was seeking a #list so it could be shared w/ #immigration agents…. Prosecutors came to fear that their #criminal investigation was a pretext to facilitate an #intimidation & #deportation campaign by the #Trump admin against #student #protesters….

#EmilBove, a snr #Trump #DOJ ofcl, ordered an immediate investigation, primarily of one particular #student group, #Columbia University Apartheid Divest…
Bove told prosecutors in the #CivilRights division to obtain a membership #list…. Investigators…pushed back on those instructions because they were skeptical such a list existed, given the amorphous nature of online forums, & even if it did, scrutinizing people for membership seemed like a violation of their #FirstAmendment rights.
#law #ethics

…The #Trump admin has vowed to take on campus #protests against #Israel’s military campaign in the #Gaza Strip, saying they reflect #antisemitism that must be punished. Those efforts are aimed at both #college administrators, who Trump ofcls say should have done more to rein in campus protests, & #student #activists themselves, some of whom #immigration ofcls have detained. Activists, in turn, accuse the authorities of conflating criticism of Israeli & US policy w/antisemitism.

Those types of demands from political appointees at the #DOJ are part of the reason there has been an exodus of lawyers from the #CivilRights division in recent weeks, acc/to current & fmr ofcls.

The federal investigation into #student #protesters at #Columbia appears to have stalled for now, but it represents one of the most contentious episodes yet inside #Justice during #Trump’s 2nd term. The dispute has left lingering ill will within the dept, as well as the #courts & the #FBI….

The breadth of the investigation, conducted by the #DOJ’s #CivilRights division, has not been previously reported. The ensuing clash highlights the tensions roiling the dept as admin ofcls seek to enact #Trump’s agenda. That bid includes redirecting the…division away from its traditional approach of protecting the rights of minority groups to a new mission of fulfilling a campaign promise to crack down on #student #protesters amid accusations of rampant #antisemitism on #college campuses.

A top #Trump appointee in the #DOJ ordered an aggressive investigation…of #student #protesters at #ColumbiaUniversity, raising anger & alarm among career prosecutors & investigators who saw it as politically motivated & lacking legal merit….

The demand for the inquiry into #students who protested #Israel’s conduct…in #Gaza also prompted pushback from a federal magistrate judge, who believed some of the steps being sought by… #EmilBove were unjustified & might violate the #FirstAmendment.

Justice Brett #Kavanaugh seemed to try to help the #school’s atty by getting him to respond to concerns raised by Justice #Sotomayor. “You’re not saying the state can favor one #religion over another?” Kavanaugh asked.

In response, atty James Campbell assured #SCOTUS that no #student in #Oklahoma is forced to attend a #CharterSchool. “There are plenty of other options,” he said.

The #HarvardLawReview is a #student-run organization that is legally #independent from the #Harvard #Law School, acc/to a statement by a Harvard Law spox….

The #school is “committed to ensuring that the programs & activities it oversees are in compliance with all applicable laws & to investigating any credibly alleged violations,” the stmnt said.

The investigation was launched amid the #Trump admin’s decision to freeze >$2B in grants & contracts w/ #HarvardUniversity, which sued in response.

…[but the #Trump admin]…is instead determined…to fundamentally end how the storied #CivilRights division has functioned since it was established during the Eisenhower admin, becoming an #enforcement arm for #Trump’s agenda against state & local officials, #college administrators & #student #protesters, among others.