Harvard's lawsuit against the Trump administration is a possible ploy meant to bring the administration to the bargaining table, Harvard Law School professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz said Monday.
He added that Harvard would lose if the case makes it to the Supreme Court.
Harvard sued the administration on Monday to try to stop a federal freeze on grants worth over $2.2 billion.
Harvard filed suit on Monday to halt a federal freeze on more than $2.2 billion in grants.
However, the federal government does not have any legal obligation to fund universities, Dershowitz said.
“Harvard's going to lose. It has no obligation legally, the government, to fund a $53 billion university. I don't understand the basis of the lawsuit. They're claiming First Amendment. But, you know, Harvard has the First Amendment right to speak and to teach and academic freedom, but it doesn't have the right to get funding,” Dershowitz told Newsmax.
“I think the lawsuit is designed to send a message to the administration — come sit down and negotiate. Their two lawyers who they hired initially are negotiators; they're close to the Trump family and Trump business. And I think this is simply a ploy to try to get a resolution,” Dershowitz continued.
Dershowitz maintains that both Harvard and the Trump administration will settle but the administration has the overall advantage, saying that “[A]bout a third of the things that the government asked for from Harvard are right; they should do it. Third of them may be wrong and about a third of them are subject to negotiation. So this case will settle. But if it goes to the Supreme Court, it's going to lose. [Harvard] may win in the district court because it's Massachusetts, but it will lose in the Supreme Court.”
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