Transcript

7.19.25 · Washington Post

0:00
Speaker 1: Welcome to the reading of the Washington Post for July nineteenth,
0:04
twenty twenty five. As a reminder, RADIOI is reading service
0:09
intended for people who are blind or have other disabilities
0:12
that make it difficult to read printed material. Your reader
0:17
for today is Howard Kliman. Today's front page headlines from
0:22
the Post are first deportees traded for ten Americans held
0:27
by Caracas bondy as court on seal Epstein records mission,
0:33
creep At Anti Semitism Unit critics, allege Ally's advice on
0:39
talking to Trump gives Kiev a win, onen Uranian nuclear
0:43
site destroyed US assesses, and finally, the Hubble telescope zoomed
0:49
in on the galaxy next to your next door. It's
0:52
mind boggling. So our first story, again in full, from
0:57
the front page of the Post, is headlined the US
1:00
Venezuelan prisoner swap Freeze Americans for migrants in El Salvador,
1:07
and it's written by Karen de Young and Samantha Schmitt.
1:12
More than two hundred and fifteen Venezuelans deported in March
1:15
by the Trump administration and flown to a high security
1:19
prison in El Salvador were sent home Friday in exchange
1:23
for ten American citizens and permanent US residents that were
1:28
imprisoned in Venezuelan by the governor government of President Nicolas Maduro.
1:35
The swap at least partially ended one of the most
1:38
controversial episodes of President Donald Trump's second term. That's the
1:43
secret removal under a seventeen ninety eight ward time law
1:47
and indefit incarceration without charge of Venezuelan migrants he said
1:53
were members of quote a terrorist gang. Legal challenges to
1:58
those actions continue. In a carefully coordinated series of events
2:03
following months of negotiations among Washington, Caracas, and El Salvadora,
2:09
the two hundred and fifty two Venezuelans were bussed from
2:13
El Salvador's Terrorism Confinement Center or SEACOTT, to be picked
2:18
up by two aircrafts and from Venezuela. Simultaneously, US chartered
2:24
Gulfstream plane departed a small Georgia airport carrying US diplomatic
2:30
officials and medical personnel en route to Caracas. Salvadorian President
2:36
Naya Bucali said later in a social media post that
2:40
the releases meant his government had now handed over all
2:44
the Venezuelan nationals detained in our country. He said Maduro
2:49
had also released a number of domestic political prisoners as
2:54
part of the deal. In a statement issued after the
2:58
departing US plane cleared Venezuelan airspace with the Americans board
3:02
about four pm, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that
3:07
more Americans had been wrongfully jailed under highly questionable circumstances
3:13
without proper due process in Venezuela than any other country.
3:19
He said that every wrongfully detained American in Venezuela was
3:24
now free. Meduro has often accused the CIA and American
3:30
mercenaries of infiltrating Venezuela and plots to overthrow his government.
3:36
Successive US administrations have accused him of electoral fraud and
3:41
human rights abuses, and imposed economic sanctions. The State Department
3:47
has long warned against travel to Venezuela, where Maduro has
3:51
used arrest of Americans as bargaining zouls. Ten Americans were
3:56
freed in late twenty twenty three in exchange for the
4:00
Biden administration's release of a US imprisoned close Maduro. Ally,
4:06
seven were freed earlier this year, and previous deals negotiated
4:10
by the Trump administration. The names of those released by
4:15
Caracas on Friday were not provided, although Rubio and senior
4:20
administration officials who briefed reporters on the exchange described them
4:24
as well as Americans. Another official called that a colloquial
4:29
expression and said five are US citizens and five are
4:33
permanent US residents or Green card holders. The officials spoke
4:38
on the condition of anonymity under roles set by the
4:42
White House. Advisors to relatives of two of the release
4:47
citizens provided statements. Lucas Hunter's family has said he was
4:52
on a windsurfing trip to Colombia near the Venezuelan border
4:56
in January, where he was kidnapped and arrested by Venezuelan
5:01
border guards. We are grateful that President Trump has made
5:05
this issue a priority for his team. That's from Hunter's sister,
5:09
Sophie Hunter. On Friday, Venezuela had alleged that Wolfbert Castaneda Gomez,
5:16
decorated former Navy seal, was part of a plot to
5:20
assassinate Maduro when he was arrested while on vacation in August.
5:25
My brother is an innocent man who was used by
5:28
as a political plan by the Maduro regime. That's from
5:32
his sister. Christian Costanta. A statement released by the Venezuelan
5:37
government said that all of the Americans had been quote
5:41
under judicial orders for their proven participation in serious crimes
5:47
against the country, the independence and the security of the nation.
5:52
The statement also said that, in an apparent reference to
5:56
the release of political prisoners, that alternative measures usually referring
6:01
to home detention and regular check in, had been granted
6:05
to a group of Venezuelan citizens who remained detained for
6:10
their participation in the commission of common crimes and crimes
6:14
against the constitutional order. Later official statements said eighty had
6:19
been released, although no names were given. Earlier Friday, a
6:24
plane arrived in Caracas carrying seven young children, who Interior
6:29
Minister dios Dado Cabello said had been kidnapped by the
6:33
United States when US agents separated them from their deported parents.
6:39
The return of the children was part of the new
6:41
exchange agreements, according to a person informed of the deal,
6:46
who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were
6:49
not authorized to discuss it. They were brought to Venezuela
6:54
bor a regular US deportation flight from Houston, and was
6:58
unclear who had custody of them. In the US, where
7:01
Cabello said the return of twenty five more was being
7:04
negotiated with the Trump administration. Friday Swamp was a remarkable
7:10
development after Trump, in a high stakes early bid to
7:14
claim executive power and prove he was serious about ridding
7:18
the country of illegal migrants, didn't follow a court order,
7:22
which was issued as the deportation planes to El Salvador
7:26
were mid flight or preparing for takeoff March fifteenth, to
7:30
halt our reverse removals. The administration never provided a complete
7:35
list of the Venezuelans' identities and subsequently told courts it
7:40
had no power to force or even asked El Salvador
7:44
to return them. Many of the Venezuelan prisoners were sent
7:48
on the March fifteenth flights. Within days of being rounded
7:52
up at their US homes or workplaces. They arrived in
7:56
shackles at El Salvador Seacot Prison under an unpublicized agreement
8:02
between Rubio and Buccale, whose government was paid to incarceraate them.
8:08
One senior administration official said that Bukali's initial offer to
8:13
accept the prisoners provided the opportunity to initiate negotiations for
8:18
an exchange. Trump's sudden invocation of the seventeen ninety eight
8:23
Alien Enemies Act to justify more than half of the
8:27
removals launched a torrent of legal challenges. Federal courts have
8:32
halted deportations under the Act now, though they have issued
8:36
differing opinions on whether Trump has the power to use it.
8:41
The Supreme Court hasn't ruled on the question, but has
8:44
said the law requires potential deportees be given an opportunity
8:49
to challenge their removal. The rest of the deported prisoners
8:54
were sent to El Salvador under regular deportation procedures. Administration said,
9:01
without presenting evidence that many were violent criminals, and as
9:06
Venezuelan simply disappeared. None were given an opportunity to challenge
9:11
their attention or deportation, and family members were not informed
9:17
in mads at the prison or not allowed any contact
9:21
with the outside world. Meduro had demanded the return of
9:25
the Venezuelans, who he said had been quote kidnapped, as
9:29
a point of national honor, after Bucali offered in April
9:33
to send them home if Maduro would free all US
9:36
citizens he was holding, as well as dozens of imprisoned
9:41
domestic political opponents, but in exchange being negotiated by the
9:46
State Department in May, was scotched when it collided with
9:50
separate negotiations being secretly conducted by Presidential Envoy Richard Griennell,
9:56
who told Trump he had persuaded Maduro to reasume suspended
10:00
deportation flights to Caracas in return for the release of
10:05
the Americans. The State Department eventually resumed talks, leading to
10:09
the final deal for the return Venezuelans. The agreement ended
10:15
four months of confinement in what both Salvadorian and US
10:20
human rights groups have called one of the most brutal
10:23
facilities in the Hemisphere, where those detained were deprived of
10:28
access to lawyers or their families. Question about his justification,
10:33
days after the deportations, Trump told reporters that the Venezuelans
10:39
were quote bad people. When you look at the crimes
10:42
they have committed, he said, you don't get worse than that.
10:45
These are drug dealers, drug lords, people from mental institutions.
10:50
Homeland Security Secretary Christy Nome, on a visit to the
10:54
prison in late March, filmed and posted a video warning
10:58
potential migrants of their fate as she stood before dozens
11:03
of shirtless men with shaved heads stacked on three levels
11:07
of shelves inside of cell. They should remain in the
11:11
Megaprison built a house eighty thousand for quote, the rest
11:15
of their lives. She later said. Trump claimed authority to
11:19
invoke the Alien Enemies Act, which regularly requires invasion by
11:24
a foreign power, by saying most of the deportees were
11:28
members of trendy Aragua, a Venezuelan gang active in the
11:32
US that he had designated as a terrorist group. The
11:37
administration said its activities constituted an invasion under the Act
11:42
since the gang was under the control of the Maduro government,
11:46
something US intelligence later put in doubt. In the Friday briefing,
11:52
a senior official from the administration said, quote all of
11:57
the two hundred and fifty two deportees return learned to
12:00
Venezuela were members of Trenduragua, a sweeping assertion for which
12:05
the administration has never provided evidence, but numerous news reports
12:11
and court filings have indicated that many of the Venezuelans
12:15
were not violent criminals, much less members of the gang.
12:19
Some of those sent to El Salvador had been legally
12:23
living in the US, including Kilmer Abrego, Garcia, one of
12:28
twenty three Salvadorians included on the flights. When a federal
12:33
judge in Maryland ordered him return, the administration said it
12:37
had no power to do so since all of the
12:39
deportees were now under the custody of a foreign nation,
12:44
the matter was out of US hands. Abrago, a Maryland resident,
12:50
was returned to the US last month, only to face
12:53
federal charges of migrant smuggling, which he denies. US court
12:58
filings last week, lawyers for more than one hundred Venezuelans
13:03
challenging their deportations and imprisonment in El Salvador included an
13:09
acknowledging acknowledgement by Bukali officials that the US, not El Salvador,
13:15
has the jurisdiction and legal responsibility for them. Lee Gelrent,
13:21
an American Civil Liberties Union attorney and lead council for
13:25
the migrants, said Friday that lawyers are still pursuing due
13:29
process for them, and he noted that a federal judge
13:33
in the District of Columbia ruled in June that the
13:36
government had failed to give them a chance to contest
13:39
their deportations, and that decision is still on appeal. These
13:45
individuals have languished in communicado in a notorious prison known
13:50
for torture for more than four months with zero due process,
13:54
and now with this later latest maneuver, the administration appears
13:59
to be trying to avoid all judicial accountability. Gel Rent
14:03
from the ACLU said that in a statement Friday and
14:07
late Friday, the two hundred and fifty two released Venezuelans
14:11
deplaned on live television at the International Airport outside Caracas.
14:17
Dressed in t shirts and jeans, their hair grown out.
14:20
They shouted Viva, crossed themselves and bumpfists with Cabello, who
14:25
waited at the bottom of the stairs. Our next story
14:30
from the front page of the Today's Washington Post is
14:32
headline Justice Department asked court to release Epstein grand jury
14:37
testimony and it's written by Jeremy Roebuck and Mark Berman.
14:43
The Justice Department on Friday asked of federal court to
14:46
release grand jury transcripts connected to deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein.
14:52
That's responding to a growing political outcry over the agency's
14:56
unfulfilled promise to release more details on the government's investigation
15:02
of his alleged sex trafficking of miners. Officials cited the
15:07
extensive public interest in seeking to make public sealed material
15:12
from the year's long investigation in Tepstein, who was indicted
15:16
in twenty nineteen on sex trafficking charges, and his associate,
15:21
Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted of sex trafficking charges in
15:26
twenty twenty one. The Justice Department's filings, which were signed
15:31
by Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche,
15:36
may clear that it may take some time before any
15:39
transcripts are released. If at all, a judge would have
15:43
to agree to release them once the process that could
15:46
take weeks or even months, and even then their disclosure
15:50
is by no means Certain grand jury records are shielded
15:54
by secrecy rules to protect crime victims, witnesses, and the
15:58
accused are made public only under limited circumstances. The filings
16:05
of the Department would work with federal prosecutors in Manhattan
16:09
to make quote appropriate reactions of victim related and other
16:13
personal identifying information. The Department wrote that public officials, commentators,
16:20
and many others quote remained deeply interested and concerned about
16:25
the Epstein manner, and asked the courts to conclude that
16:28
the Epstein and Maxwell cases qualify as a matter of
16:32
public interest and release the requested transcripts. The Justice Department's
16:38
request capped a turnabout for the Trump administration, which in
16:42
recent days has taken a defensive posture on its handling
16:47
of the Epstein case. Trump has lashed out at Republicans
16:51
questioning the administration's actions and accused Democrats of perpetuing in
16:57
Epstein hoax, but some of Trump's supporters and allies have
17:01
remained critical. Late Thursday, Trump directed Bondy to seek the
17:06
release of all pertinent grand jury testimony in the Epstein case,
17:11
bowing to the ongoing fury. His directive came soon after
17:16
The Wall Street Journal reported that he had contributed a
17:20
drawing of a naked woman to Epstein's fiftieth birthday album
17:24
in two thousand and three, and the journal reported that
17:28
the letter concluded with happy birthday and may every day
17:31
be another wonderful secret. Trump called the letter quote of
17:35
fake and lashed out at the publication the filings Friday
17:41
adhered to Trump's instructions that were submitted in Manhattan, where
17:46
Epstein was indicted and Maxwell was prosecuted. A spokesman for
17:51
the US Attorney's office in Manhattan declined to comment. An
17:55
attorney for Maxwell and a lawyer who had represented Epstein
18:00
didn't respond to messages that were seeking comment. The Justice
18:05
Department said it was filing a similar petition in South Florida,
18:10
where Epstein had been investigated and struck a widely criticized
18:14
plea deal back in two thousand and eight. That filing
18:18
wasn't immediately available Friday night, and the US Attorney's office
18:23
in South Florida didn't respond messages seeking comment. The sealed
18:28
transcripts would constitute only a fraction of the evidence and
18:32
investigative material that the FBI amassed during its year's long investigation.
18:38
The transcripts are unlikely to fully satisfied Trump's right wing base,
18:44
which continues to call for full transparency surrounding the investigation.
18:50
It's generally a very very small portion of any investigative file,
18:55
said Christopher O'Leary, who spent more than two decades as
18:59
an FBI counter terrorism agent. The full extent of what
19:04
remains under ramps is unclear. Thousands of pages of documents
19:09
related to the Epstein investigation have already been released through lawsuits,
19:14
court filings, public records requests and the Justice Department's prosecution
19:19
of Maxwell. Much of what remains, the Justice Department and
19:24
FBI said in a joint memo last week, has been
19:27
sealed by courts to protect victims and doesn't expose any
19:32
additional third party to allegations of a legal wrongdoing. Bondy
19:38
and others, through previous releases and public statements, have offered
19:43
some clues as to what might be left. One of
19:47
the new items Bondi included in a previous release of
19:50
Epstein documents in February was a three page evidence log
19:55
detailing item sees during searches of Epstein's property in New York,
20:01
Palm Beach, and the US Virgin Islands. Among them were
20:05
dozens of computers and electronic devices holding more than three
20:09
hundred gigabytes of data, according to that document. Bondi, in
20:15
a separate letter to FBI Director Cash Ptel after that release,
20:20
said the Epstein file had been sent to her for review,
20:23
including quote approximately two hundred pages of documents, which consisted
20:28
primarily of flight logs, Epstein's list of contacts, and a
20:33
list of victims names and phone numbers. She accused the
20:37
FBI of withholding additional files, ordered Patel to produce them,
20:42
and later said the Bureau turned over a quote truckload
20:45
of new evidence with thousands of additional pages of documents
20:50
in response to her demands. The letter, described by The
20:54
Wall Street Journal in its report Thursday, is unlikely to
20:58
be included or even reference inst in any unsealed grand
21:01
jury testimony, which would recount only sworn statements witnesses made
21:06
to the panels that indicted Epstein on sex trafficking charges
21:11
back in twenty nineteen and Maxwell the following year. Trump
21:17
denied that the document was genuine. The Washington Post hasn't
21:21
independently confirmed whether it was authentic, and the President on
21:26
Friday sued the Journal, its parent company, News Corp. And
21:30
owner Rubert Murdoch for defamation in federal court on Florida.
21:36
The evidence, long released in Friday or in February, rather,
21:41
also makes no mention of the two thousand and three
21:43
birthday album, but it refers to other physical evidence seized
21:48
by the FBI, including five massage tables, bus of female
21:53
body parts, travelogs, photographs, and more than seventeen thousand dollars
21:59
in cash. The index also included a log book of
22:03
visitors Epstein's compound and Little Saint James in the US
22:07
Virgin Islands, and several lists of contexts contacts, including employees.
22:14
Several of Trump's supporters have also called for the release
22:17
of those documents, as well as what they think is
22:20
quote a client list that Epstein maintained of powerful people
22:25
in his orbit who they believed could be complicit in
22:28
his alleged crimes. Bondi, in a Fox News interview and
22:33
Fry in February said she had that list quote sitting
22:37
on her desk right now to review. Both the Justice
22:41
Department and its memo last week said its systemic, systematic
22:45
review revealed no incriminating client list or any other evidence
22:50
that would warrant criminal investigation of third parties. That conclusion
22:56
came after a month's long review by dozens of FBI
23:00
agents and lawyers from the Justice Department's National Security Division,
23:06
who were detailed to examine the thousands of pages of
23:09
records and video evidence amassed in the investigation. Senator Dick Durbin,
23:15
Democrat from Illinois, said Friday that his office had received
23:20
information indicating that Bondi had quote pressured the FBI to
23:25
assign approximately one thousand employees who typically handle Freedom of
23:30
Information Act requests to dig through those filings and round
23:34
the clock shifts in search of any that could be released.
23:39
My office was told that these personnel were instructed to
23:42
flag any records in which President Trump was mentioned. Durbin,
23:47
the top ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, wrote
23:51
in a letter to the Attorney General demanding a full
23:55
account of her review of those files. And Representative Dan Goldman,
24:00
a Democrat from New York and a former federal prosecutor
24:04
who's pushed for the release of more records, said Thursday
24:08
night in a post to x that the FBI's wider
24:11
investigative file would include much information beyond the grand jury
24:16
testimony that Bondi said she would seek to unseal. Other records,
24:21
Goldman said would probably include summaries of agent interviews with
24:26
key witnesses and sees, text messages, and emails, as well
24:31
as additional videos, photographs, and other recordings. Goldman dismissed Bondi's
24:37
move to seek the unsealing of grand jury testimony as
24:40
a distraction nice try at agpag Pambondi, he wrote, public
24:48
suspicions surrounding the case have created a problem for Trump,
24:51
in part because several of his allies, including Patel and
24:55
his deputy Dan Bogino, spent years fanning conspiracy theories about
25:00
the investigation and Epstein's twenty nineteen death, which was ruled
25:06
a suicide, before they were appointed to their government roles,
25:10
and since Trump's return to the White House, several of
25:13
his allies have criticized Bondi, Patel, and Bugino for failing
25:18
to make good on the expectation that they set that
25:21
evidence of a cover up would eventually be exposed, And
25:26
as the controversy has persisted and increasingly irritated, Trump has
25:31
castigated his supporters for their continued fixation on the files,
25:36
and he sought to blame the Democrats for not releasing
25:39
them earlier. If there was a smoking gun on Epstein,
25:43
Trump posted Friday to his social media platform Truth Social
25:48
why didn't the Dems, who controlled the files for four
25:51
years and had Garland and Komi in charge use it
25:55
because they had nothing? He referred to Merrick Garland, who
25:59
served as a Jtorney general and the Biden administration, but
26:02
it wasn't clear whether he also meant James B. Comy,
26:06
who Trump fired as FBI director in twenty seventeen, or
26:11
his daughter, Maureen Comy, a federal prosecutor on the Epstein
26:15
case who was abruptly fired Wednesday by the Justice Department.
26:21
As recently as last year, the younger Komy had sought
26:25
in court to keep records pertaining to some aspects of
26:28
the Epstein investigation under reps. In a suit brought by
26:32
the gossip website Radar Online seeking FBI records. Komy pushed
26:38
against making those documents public in a January twenty twenty
26:42
four court filing, saying it could interfere with Maxwell's ongoing
26:47
appeal of her conviction and subject victims and witnesses to
26:52
quote embarrassment and potential harassment. Our next story from today's
26:58
front page of The Washington Post is headlined inside the
27:02
Powerful Task Force spearheading Trump's assault on colleges and DEI,
27:09
and is written by Laura Meckler, Dan Rosenswig Ziff Susans
27:13
for Luga, Perry Stein, and Emily Davies. In twenty twenty one,
27:18
future Vice President JD. Vance delivered a speech titled the
27:23
Universities Are the Enemy. A few years later, during his campaign,
27:27
Donald Trump called college leaders quote Marxist maniacs now their
27:33
administration is using the full force of the federal government
27:37
to investigate long standing conservative complaints about universities, making sweeping
27:43
demands and cutting billions of dollars in federal funding as
27:47
it works to bring campuses to heal. The most powerful
27:51
vehicle for the onslaught has been the Joint Task Force
27:55
to Combat Anti Semitism. The administration established task force in
28:01
February to counter what it describes as widespread failure by
28:05
universities to protect Jewish students since the start of campus
28:10
protests against the Israel Gaza War. In reality, many of
28:15
the task forces on precedented demands and punishments have nothing
28:19
to do with anti Semitism. Instead, they seek hiring and
28:24
programming changes to strip long standing conservative targets, including DEI
28:30
and a liberal worldview from higher education. A White House official,
28:35
who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on
28:38
the condition of anonymity, said the task force began by
28:43
focusing on anti Semitism, but described anti Semitism as only
28:48
the symptom as of a broken and corrupt culture on
28:52
college campuses, and not the disease. The official said the
28:56
same campus culture that labels Jews as suppressors and isolates
29:01
white students in favor of promoting racial minorities. That assertion
29:07
was echoed by several administration officials and some conservative Jewish leaders.
29:14
The administration's critics, including some Jewish leaders and groups, say
29:18
stripping diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives from colleges won't prevent
29:24
anti semitism and predict the task forces tactics will prompt
29:29
a backlash. The administration is using anti semitism investigation as
29:34
a pretext to pursue an unrelated conservative agenda. They argue,
29:39
it's self evident. It's not about anti Semitism, said Jehudah Kurtzer,
29:44
who's president of the Shalom Hartman Institute, a Jerusalem based
29:48
research and educational center focused on world Jewish life and pluralism.
29:54
Why would that have anything to do with cutting funding
29:57
for research. It's about conservat fears of higher education, and
30:02
anti Semitism is just an excuse. These issues are set
30:07
for a high profile public airing next week in a
30:10
federal court in Boston. Attorneys for Harvard and the Trump
30:14
administration are scheduled to face off and a pivotal hearing
30:18
in a lawsuit the university has filed an attempt to
30:21
reverse federal funding cuts. This account of the Anti Semitism
30:26
task Forces mission and tactics is based on interviews with
30:30
forty administration officials, administration allies, university officials, and others familiar
30:37
with the task forces work. Some spoke on the condition
30:41
of anonymity to avoid retribution for speaking without authorization. White
30:47
House spokesman Harrison Field said fighting anti semitism and DEI
30:52
are both administration priorities. The suggestion that the administration is
30:58
weaponizing the fight against anti Semitism to implement common sense
31:02
policies and DEI is outrageous and baseless, he said in
31:07
a statement. He added that both efforts are quote fully
31:11
aligned with upholding federal law, which these practices clearly violate.
31:17
The Trump Administration's rhetorical, administrative, and financial attack on higher
31:23
education is like none other since the federal government ramped
31:27
up funding the universities in the aftermath of World War Two.
31:32
The work, which at times has ignored legal norms and procedures,
31:37
is driven by the task Force, made up of senior
31:40
officials in the Justice, Education, and Health in Human Services departments,
31:45
as well as the little known General Services administration. Since
31:50
almost the start of Trump's second term, they have invoked
31:54
both anti Semitism and DEI in a quest to transform
31:59
the culture of camp and stamp out what many Republicans
32:03
see is outright hostility to conservative values, discourse, and thought.
32:09
For supporters, DEI is a way to ensure that all
32:12
types of people, regardless of race, gender, and other factors,
32:17
are represented and feel included, and that institutions address structural
32:22
barriers that may prevent equal opportunity. But critics, including many conservatives,
32:28
say DEI actually divides people based on identity, leads to
32:33
discrimination based on race and gender, and ignores merit in
32:37
favor of Quotas one task force members said, it makes
32:42
sense to create a global settlement with universities that would
32:46
encompass a range of alleged violations. Task Force investigation sometimes
32:52
start out examining allegations of anti Semitism, this person said,
32:57
but then identify what members see as others concerns, such
33:01
as race conscious admissions, which the Supreme Court has ruled
33:05
are unconstitutional. Now, even as Harvard fights the Trump administration
33:11
in court, the administration's hard edged approach is paying dividends,
33:16
with schools including Harvard and Columbia, the two biggest targets,
33:20
agreeing to some government demands, and as Columbia negotiates with
33:24
the White House over a possible agreement. In interviews, several
33:30
administration officials argue that anti Semitism and DEI are inextricably linked,
33:37
and said the task Forces mandate is widely understood internally
33:41
to include both issues. They argue that both are rooted
33:45
in racism and that both violates civil rights law. History
33:50
has shown that anti Semitism is oftentimes the canary in
33:54
the coal mine for deeper civil rights issues. That's from
33:58
Josh Gruenbaum, a Trump appointee whose commissioner of the General
34:03
Services Administration's Federal Acquisition Service and a member of the
34:08
task Force. At one Wise House meeting, a senior Justice
34:12
Department official compared the people behind campus anti semitism to
34:18
protesters in liberal movements such as Black Lives Matter and
34:22
Occupy Wall Street. Attendees said and after Hamas attacked Israel
34:27
on October seventh of twenty twenty three, and Israel responded
34:32
with a deadly incursion into Gaza, large scale pro Palestinian
34:36
protests erupted on many college campuses. Some Jewish students said
34:42
certain actions and rhetoric amounted to anti Semitism, and colleges
34:47
faced a challenge balancing the free speech rights of the
34:50
protesters against those concerns. Protests were particularly intense and divisive
34:58
in the twenty twenty three to twenty four SIS school year,
35:01
and some Jewish students reported being frightened by the language
35:05
demonstrators used and being excluded from clubs on campus. While
35:10
many protests were peaceful, some demonstrators celebrated the October seventh attack,
35:16
ending out flyers promoting hamas and spray painted targets, symbols,
35:21
and death threats. At Columbia, a class about Israel was
35:25
disrupted by protesters. The protest encampments barred Quote Zionists from entering,
35:32
and a Jewish student just outside the schoolgates reported being
35:36
punched in the face. A survey last fall by the
35:40
American Jewish Committee of current and recent Jewish college students
35:45
found that about one in three reported experiencing anti Semitism
35:49
during their time as a student. Nearly as many said
35:53
they felt uncomfortable or unsafe at a campus event at
35:57
least once because of their Jewish identity. Soon after taking office,
36:02
the Trump administration ordered schools to adopt stronger policies on
36:07
protests and enforce them, ban masks on campus, and change
36:12
academic programs that deal with the Middle East. But the
36:17
task force also demanded a wide range of changes related
36:21
to DEI and race, among them changes to admissions, closing
36:26
DEI offices, and altering hiring practices. To push colleges to comply,
36:32
the administration has frozen billions of dollars in federal funding
36:37
to at least six highly selective universities, notably Harvard and Columbia,
36:43
which have seen the highest profile federal cuts, but also
36:46
to Cornell, Northwestern, Brown, and Princeton. Officials also wrote to
36:52
sixty schools in March to warn that they might be
36:55
subject to enforcement actions based on their responses anti semitism,
37:01
though more than twenty of them have heard nothing from
37:04
the administration since then. That's acording to a Washington Post survey.
37:10
One targeted school, Brown University, said its funding was cut
37:14
without quote, any formal notification or explanation from the federal government,
37:19
and in spite of Brown's cooperation with multiple government reviews
37:24
and our compliance with the law. This missmash of enforcement
37:30
has frightened universities across the country. Government attorneys are using
37:35
well established processes to investigate some complaints against universities, but
37:42
in other cases, political appointees are directing and announcing punishments
37:47
and demands before schools have a chance to respond to
37:51
the allegations and before the administration attempts to negotiate an agreement.
37:56
As civil rights law directs some penal These are being
38:00
challenged in court, but Columbia has agreed to a number
38:05
of changes demanded by the administration, including a review of
38:09
its admissions process in hope of seeing four hundred million
38:12
dollars in federal funding being restored. Though many of those
38:17
changes were already in the works. At Harvard, talks our
38:21
ongoing about creating a pluralism hub to promote viewpoint diversity.
38:27
That's a response to the conservative critique of overly liberal faculties.
38:33
In April, Harvard renamed its Office for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion
38:38
and Belonging. It's now called QUOTE Community and Campus Life.
38:43
Other universities are also making changes in line with administration priorities.
38:49
That's from Education Secretary Linda McMahon. What we've seen since
38:54
we've really began this effort. You know, it was kind
38:57
of a hard hammer at first, she said in an
39:00
event in June hosted by Bloomberg News, and added, so
39:05
now we've seen a lot of other universities who are
39:08
starting to look at their practices and their programs in
39:11
getting ahead of the curve so that they can report back.
39:16
The task force was created on February third, just days
39:19
after Trump signed an executive order directing additional members measures
39:25
to combat anti Semitism. Operated out of the Justice Department,
39:30
its members ultimately report to the White House, a White
39:33
House officials said, with Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller
39:38
playing in an oversight role. The public face is Leo
39:42
terrell is a civil rights attorney who left this job
39:46
as a Fox News contributor to take a position in
39:50
Trump's Justice Department. Republicans referred to him as Leo two
39:55
point zero, an affectionate nod to his political transformation from Democrat.
40:01
Trump supporter terrell A posts on social media throughout the day,
40:06
echoing some of the right's most incendiary and baseless claims.
40:11
He also rails against diversity, equity, and inclusion, often simply
40:15
posting I hate DEI in tagging people of color with
40:20
whom he disagrees as Dei hires. He's also echoed anti
40:25
Semitic comments, such as when he shared a post on
40:29
x by the then head of Identity of ROPA, which
40:33
later changed its name to an American Identity Movement and
40:37
now defunct group that the Anti Defamation League dumb dubbed
40:42
white supremacist organization. The post suggested that Trump revoke Senator
40:48
Charles Schumer's juke guard because of his views on the
40:52
conflict in Israel. Multiple people said Terrell has little experience
40:57
in the type of legal work the task force is undertaking,
41:01
and isn't involved in the day to day operation of
41:05
legal strategy. He acts as a messenger sometimes, they said,
41:10
sending directives from the White House and updating Trump officials
41:13
on the group's work. He's been eager to sit down
41:17
with conservative Jewish leaders, people who have met with them said,
41:21
but he hasn't met with groups at represent larger shares
41:25
of the Jewish community, such as the Union for Reform Judaism,
41:30
the association representing the largest Jewish denomination in the US,
41:35
according to the group, the American Jewish Committee waited months
41:39
to get a meeting. According to officials, Terrell declined multiple
41:43
interview requests. A Justice Department spokesperson also declined to comment
41:49
on Terrell's role and actions. Most of the task force
41:54
work is being shepherded by lower profile senior administration officials
41:59
Tom Wheeler and Sean Covini, the acting and general counsels
42:04
of the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services,
42:08
and Gruenbaum from the General Services Administration. That's according to
42:13
two task force members. Armey Dillon directly oversees the group's
42:18
work as the head of the Justice Department Civil Rights Division.
42:24
The Education and Justice departments have long been involved in
42:28
enforcing civil rights laws on campuses. Involving HHS and GSA
42:33
and investigations is a newer approach that's given the administration
42:38
a powerful stick. HHS controls many of the federal grants
42:43
on which universities depend in GSA, as a federal government
42:48
central procurement agency, has a deep understanding of data on
42:53
grants and contracts to the universities across agencies, and it's
42:58
not the only novels strategy than the task force is deploying.
43:03
Typically government lawyers and investigators who are not political appointees,
43:09
lead the process of collecting evidence and decide whether there's
43:13
cause to launch an investigation, avoiding public announcements in case
43:17
there's no finding of wrongdoing. Dylan and her political teams
43:22
scour social media to identify instances of anti semitism and
43:28
determine which in investigations to launch. They often speak and
43:33
post about some of those efforts publicly. The administration has
43:37
also deployed the State Department and the Department of Homeland
43:41
Security to try to prevent Harvard from enrolling foreign students,
43:46
not to move blocks so far by a federal court,
43:50
and in a May letter to Harvard signed by the
43:53
usually measured and diplomatic McMahon, it was written in the
43:57
style of Trump. It was strewn with all apps, words, insults,
44:01
and exclamation points. Harvard should no longer seek grants from
44:06
the federal government, since no longer none of them will
44:10
be provided, according to the letter. Another letter from the
44:14
task force to Harvard included a litany of demands that
44:17
had little to do with resolving allegations of anti semitism,
44:22
as well as some that did relate. It demanded that
44:26
Harvard cease alleged racial hiring and admissions preferences, shutter all
44:31
DEI initiatives and conduct, and oughted to assure viewpoint diversity
44:36
in the student body, faculty, staff, and leadership, as well
44:41
as in every department, field, and teaching unit. The letter
44:45
was sent in error, according to two people familiar with
44:48
the situation, Still, administration officials stood behind it. Harvard refused
44:55
to comply, and within hours the first funding freeze hit Harvard.
44:59
Then Rea responded with its lawsuit. The legal basis for
45:04
the crackdown on universities centers on Title six of the
45:09
Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color,
45:14
or national origin in programs or activities, including universities that
45:20
receive federal funding that includes discrimination based on shared national ancestry,
45:26
such as Jewish heritage. By law, the government is supposed
45:31
to investigate complaints and, if they are substantiated, give the
45:35
universities an opportunity to come into compliance. Typically, the institution
45:41
will negotiate an agreement, which might include policy changes and
45:45
monitoring by the government. If talks fail, the government can
45:49
take the case to court, where a judge would consider
45:53
whether funding should be denied. The statutes and regulations set
45:58
out a really careful process, says the government is supposed
46:01
to follow, said Shaheena Simons, who worked as a civil
46:05
rights attorney and the Justice Department for seventeen years, including
46:10
nine as head of the Educational Opportunities Section. Under the law,
46:15
Simon said, withdrawal of federal funds is treated as a
46:19
last resort action in several high profile cases. The Trump
46:24
task Force has skipped all these steps. For instance, it
46:28
announced in investigation into actions at Columbia University on March third.
46:34
Just four days later, it froze four hundred million dollars
46:38
in federal grants and contracts. There's also no indication that
46:43
the administration investigated Harvard before freezing about two point five
46:48
billion dollars in funding, declaring the university would no longer
46:52
receive any future federal funding, and attempting to borrow federal
46:57
students from enrolling in the school. The speed with which
47:01
they are putting out these so called findings suggests they
47:05
are not bonifid investigation, Simon said, legitimate investigations they take time.
47:12
McMahon defended the task forces approach, saying the violations were
47:17
obvious from news reports of pro Palestinian protests against the
47:21
Israel Gaza war on college campuses last year. If you
47:26
watched on television, students really were attacked, professors were attacked.
47:31
There was an action that needed to be taken. She
47:34
said that at a Bloomberg event. In legal filings in
47:38
Harvard's lawsuit, the Trump administration has said that it had
47:42
not canceled contracts because of violations of civil rights law,
47:47
even though officials repeatedly invoked these laws in rebuking universities. Rather,
47:53
the administration said it canceled contracts for quote policy purposes,
47:58
explaining that the policy purpose is to not fund institutions
48:03
that failed to address anti semitism. The courts will decide
48:08
whether it's legal to pull funding without a formal investigation, negotiation,
48:13
and court finding, said Kenneth Marcus, who headed the Education
48:17
Department Civil Right Office during the first Trump administration and
48:22
as founder and chairman of the Louis D. Brandeis Center
48:26
for Human Rights under Law, which works to combat antisemitism.
48:32
Marx welcomed the administration approach as an overdue and aggressive
48:36
response to what he sees as dangerous levels of anti semitism,
48:41
but he agreed that the administration is jettisoning procedures establishing
48:47
in law that he followed when in government. The Trump
48:51
administration is really saying they're not going to use the
48:54
same procedures used by prior administrations because we have an
48:58
exceptional circum stance here, he said. That's an assertion that
49:03
would have to be litigated by the courts. Some of
49:06
the administration's threats have yet to materialize. In February, the
49:11
task Force promise to visit ten schools that have experienced
49:16
anti semitism and meet with a wide range of people
49:20
in the campus community to investigate these incidents, but four
49:25
of those schools said no visits have been requested. Four
49:29
universities declined to comment, and two didn't respond to requests
49:33
for comment. George Washington University, for instance, located just one
49:38
mile from the White House, has publicly said it responded
49:42
to the notification by asking how the school could prepare
49:46
for a visit, but school officials said they have not
49:49
yet heard from the administration. Many schools are unsure of
49:53
the status of their investigations after hearing little or nothing
49:58
from the administration, said Johnathan Fansmith, Senior vice president for
50:03
Government Relations and National Engagement at the American Council on Education.
50:10
He said one reason might be the gutting of staff
50:12
in the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights, including seven
50:17
of twelve regional offices. Beyond that, he suggested, the administration
50:22
appears more interested in drawing public attention than using established
50:27
procedures to investigate and prove its cases. What's very, very
50:32
clear is that they're not really putting the resources into
50:35
the processes that are dictated in law, that people understand,
50:40
that lead to actual resolutions to improve the situations, Van
50:44
Smith said, and he added, they're putting a lot of
50:47
time and resources into things that grab attention and that
50:51
they can use for headlines without any sort of follow
50:54
up or implementation. The administration's broad view of the relation
51:00
relationship between anti Semitism and DEI was on display at
51:04
a private White House meeting for Jewish leaders in early June,
51:08
which followed a brutal attack on demonstrators in Boulder, Colorado,
51:13
who were calling for a release of Israeli hostages held
51:16
by Hamas and Gaza Trump. Top Trump administration officials, including
51:22
Dylan and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, spoke
51:25
to the group. Dylan repeatedly connected fighting anti Semitism to
51:30
other conservative causes. That's according to two people at the event.
51:35
She said the attack showed why Americans needed expanded gun rights,
51:39
according to these people, and she compared people guilty of
51:43
anti Semitism to those involved in movements including Black Lives Matter,
51:48
Occupy Wall Street, and Antifa, saying all are ideologically as
51:54
ligned with Marxism. Some guests said they took that comment
51:58
to mean there was anti Semiti in those movements too,
52:02
and the spread of anti Semitism on college campuses is
52:05
the natural progression. Others left confused about the task Force's
52:10
true purpose. In interviews, administration officials disagreed about whether the
52:16
task force was always meant to address a wide swath
52:19
of issues, or whether it morphed in that direction, but
52:23
they agreed that the mission extends beyond whether colleges have
52:26
protected Jews on campus. The original version of it, yeah,
52:31
was just anti semitism, a White House officials said, but
52:34
he added, practically the Anti Semitism Task Force ends up
52:38
folding in a lot of other conversations. Critics are skeptical,
52:44
noting that Trump has been accused of anti Semitic rhetoric himself.
52:48
This month, for instance, he used in anti semitic slur
52:52
when while referencing unscrupulous bankers, and in November of twenty
52:57
twenty two, he had dinner with a rapper Year formerly
53:00
known as Kanye West, who has made anti Jewish remarks,
53:05
and Nick Flentis, an anti Semite and white nationalist who
53:08
has called Republicans to work with Jewish people race traders.
53:14
Trump replied that he didn't know the comment about bankers
53:17
was considered anti semitic, and as for the dinner, he
53:21
said at the time that he never met and knew
53:23
nothing about Fuentis before he arrived with Ye at the club,
53:27
and he wrote that Ye expressed no anti Semitism at
53:31
the dinner. At a congressional hearing in June, Representative Jamie
53:35
Raskin said Trump would not associate with anti Semites if
53:40
he was committed to eradicating anti Jewish bias. Seizing control
53:45
of college student emissions, faculty hiring, and curricular content at
53:49
colleges and universities has nothing to do with protecting Jewish students,
53:54
said Raskin. Many Jewish leaders say they're concerned about d
53:59
pro dei programs that have divided the world into oppressed
54:04
and oppressors, with Jews cast as oppressors despite anti Semitism
54:09
that has persisted over centuries. In the aftermath of the
54:14
October seventh Hamas attack on Israel, some universities had systemic
54:19
blind spots about the anti Semitism that Jewish students were encountering,
54:24
and DEI initiatives might have contributed. That's from Pamela Nadell,
54:30
director of the Jewish Studies Program at American University, an
54:35
author of a forthcoming book on anti Semitism. But she
54:39
said the answer is to widen the definition of DEI
54:42
to include Jews, not to eliminate DEI. Ultimately, I'm deeply
54:48
worried that under the pretext of ending hatred of Jewish
54:51
people an historic, wild worldwide problem, the anti Semitism task
54:57
forces demand to dismantle DEI as root of anti Semitism
55:02
will further isolate Jews in American colleges. In a university,
55:06
she said, Jews will be blamed for its abolition, but
55:10
anti Semitism will not disappear from the campus. Our next
55:14
story from today's Post front page is headline I ran
55:18
bomb damage. Intel suggests two nuclear sites not ob obliterated
55:24
and from Alex Horton and Warren P. Strobel, The United
55:29
States has assessed that only one of Iran's three principal
55:32
nuclear facilities was destroyed in US strikes last month, officials
55:38
and people familiar with ongoing assessment said, prompting renewed questions
55:43
about President Donald Trump's claim that Tehran's nuclear program had
55:48
been quote totally obliterated. Of the three facilities targeted in
55:53
a massive nighttime bombing run, the results of the damage
55:57
at the four Doh site have been the clearest to
55:59
use assess, According to US officials and a Congressional aid
56:04
familiar with briefings provided to lawmakers, Air Force B two
56:08
stealth bombers dropped twelve huge ground penetrating bombs through ventilation
56:14
shafts into the underground facility. There are ongoing analysis of
56:20
how significant the damage was at the other sites, Nataz
56:23
and Isphahan, but the current indication is they were not
56:28
dealt to knockout blow. That's again, according to a US
56:31
official familiar with the intelligence assessments. We definitely can't say
56:36
it was obliterated, the official said, of Iran's nuclear program,
56:40
and like others in this report. The official and the
56:43
AID spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive
56:47
and ongoing assessments. The objective to collapse the deeply buried
56:53
infrastructure at Fordoh seems to have succeeded, the AID said,
56:57
in adding to the confidence they said and intimate understanding
57:01
of the facility by US war planners who developed the
57:05
thirty thousand pound bunker busting program specifically in response to
57:11
the Iranian effort to burrow the site into a mountain.
57:15
Ford Doh is one of the two main sites in
57:17
Iran where thousands of fastpenning centrifuges were installed to purify uranium,
57:24
but there are still significant unknowns, including whether the centrifuges
57:28
at the deepest levels of for Doh were destroyed or
57:31
rendered inoperable, or if they were moved before the bombing.
57:36
If they were not present, then they're back in business.
57:38
The AID set of Iran that is a key component
57:41
to enriching the material, and much less is known about
57:45
the efficacy of strikes at the other two facilities, according
57:50
to the AID. And this concludes the reading of the
57:54
Washington Post for Today, July nineteenth, twenty twenty five. Your
57:58
reader for today, I'm Howard Climban. If you have any questions, comments,
58:03
or suggestions concerning this program, please please feel free to
58:07
call us at eight five nine four two two sixty
58:11
three nine. Oh. Again that number is eight five nine
58:14
four two two sixty three nine. Oh. Thanks for listening,
58:18
and now please stay tuned for continued programming on Radio
58:22
I