Politics|Rubio Is Urgent to Open Sanctions Investigation Into Harvard
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/11/us/politics/rubio-harvard-sanctions-investigation.html
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Consultants and former officers mentioned it was uncommon for a cupboard secretary to attempt to affect the Treasury Division’s sanctions course of to focus on a home entity.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is pushing to analyze whether or not Harvard College violated federal sanctions by collaborating on a medical insurance convention in China which will have included officers blacklisted by the U.S. authorities, in line with folks conversant in the matter and paperwork reviewed by The New York Occasions.
Mr. Rubio signed off on a advice to the Treasury Division final month to open an investigation, which consultants and former Treasury officers mentioned was an uncommon try from a cupboard secretary to focus on a home entity for sanctions enforcement.
Whether or not the company throughout the Treasury that handles sanctions, the Workplace of Overseas Belongings Management, opened an investigation in response was unclear — however such a transfer may expose Harvard to vital authorized dangers. Mr. Rubio’s motion is the most recent instance of the Trump administration’s whole-of-government approach to bringing the Ivy League college to heel.
President Trump has hunted for months to impose his political agenda on Harvard by reshaping its curriculum, admissions and hiring processes. The trouble initially relied totally on accusations that college officers had not achieved sufficient to handle antisemitism on campus. In current weeks, nonetheless, the administration’s focus has expanded to different points, together with allegations about Harvard’s international ties, significantly to China.
A possible sanctions investigation demonstrates how Harvard’s issues with the federal government prolong far past questions of whether or not the college will proceed receiving federal funding. Mr. Trump and his allies seem decided to upend practically all elements of the establishment, which has lengthy symbolized the top of upper studying within the nation and attracted influential students from across the globe.
A spokesman for the Treasury Division mentioned the company takes any allegations of sanctions violations “extraordinarily severely” however declined to touch upon a attainable or pending sanctions investigation. A State Division spokeswoman declined to remark.
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