We explore how censorship is impacting institutions —
from universities to law firms to the Maine House of
Representatives.
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:40 Federal government cuts Columbia’s funding
16:57 Updates on the Mahmoud Khalil case
27:01 Ed Martin’s Georgetown letter
34:59 Trump targeting law firms
55:01 Maine House censure of Rep. Laurel Libby
01:03:37 Outro
Guests:
– Will
Creeley, FIRE’s legal director
– Conor
Fitzpatrick, FIRE’s supervising senior attorney
– Lindsie
Rank, FIRE’s director of campus rights advocacy
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Show notes:
– “DOJ,
HHS, ED, and GSA announce initial cancelation of grants and
contracts to Columbia University worth $400 million” U.S.
Department of Justice (2025)
–
HHS, ED, and GSA follow up letter to Columbia. U.S.
Department of Health & Human Services, U.S. Department of
Education, U.S. Government Services Administration (2025)
– “Columbia
yields to Trump in battle over federal funding” The Wall
Street Journal (2025)
– “Advancing
our work to combat discrimination, harassment, and antisemitism at
Columbia” Columbia University (2025)
– “Columbia
caves to feds — and sets a dangerous precedent” FIRE
(2025)
– “ED,
HHS, and GSA Respond to Columbia University’s Actions to Comply
with Joint Task Force Pre-Conditions” U.S. Department of
Education (2025)
– “FIRE
demands answers from Trump admin officials on arrest of Mahmoud
Khalil” FIRE (2025)
– “Brief
of Amici Curiae in Support of Petitioner’s Motion for Preliminary
Injunction – Khalil v. Joyce” FIRE (2025)
– “We will be
revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in
America so they can be deported.” Secretary of State Marco
Rubio via X (2025)
– “‘ICE proudly
apprehended and detained Mahmoud Khalil, a radical foreign
Pro-Hamas student on the campus of @Columbia University. This is
the first arrest of many to come.‘ President Donald J.
Trump” The White House via X (2025)
– “WATCH: White
House downplays stock market declines as ‘a snapshot’” PBS
NewsHour (2025)
– “Secretary
Rubio’s remarks to the press” U.S. Department of State
(2025)
– “Mahmoud
Khalil. Notice to appear.” Habeeb Habeeb via X (2025)
– “Alien
and Sedition Acts” National Archives (1798)
–
Ed Martin’s letter to Georgetown Law Dean William Treanor.
(2025)
–
Dean Treanor’s response to Ed Martin. (2025)
– “Trump,
Perkins Coie and John Adams” The Wall Street Journal
(2025)
– “Suspension
of Security Clearances and Evaluation of Government
Contracts” The White House (2025)
– “Addressing
Risks from Perkins Coie LLP” The White House (2025)
– “Addressing
risks from Paul Weiss” The White House (2025)
– “Lawyers
who anger the Feds face new penalties by decree” The CATO
Institute (2025)
– “Today,
President Donald J. Trump agreed to withdraw his March 14, 2025
Executive Order regarding the Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton &
Garrison LLP law firm (‘Paul, Weiss’), which has entered into the
following agreement with the President…” President Trump
via TruthSocial (2025)
– “Head
of Paul, Weiss says firm would not have survived without deal with
Trump” The New York Times (2025)
– “House
resolution relating to the censure of Representative Laurel D.
Libby of Auburn by the Maine House of Representatives”
Maine House of Representatives (2025)
– “Maine’s
censure of lawmaker for post about trans student-athlete is an
attack on free speech” FIRE (2025)
– “Maine
State Rep. Laurel Libby disagreed with biological males competing
in women’s sports, and now, the Maine State House is censuring
her.” Sen. Kennedy via X (2025)
– “The
open society and its enemies” Karl Popper (1945)
– “Cyber
rights: Defending free speech in the digital age” Mike
Godwin (1995)