Former DHS secretary Jeh Johnson spoke to terrorist-tied Islamic groups, blasted Trump’s anti-DEI policies
Former Homeland Security secretary Jeh Johnson, who has blasted President Donald Trump and been a guest speaker for terrorist-tied Islamic organizations, is now co-chairing Columbia University’s Board of Trustees, the university announced last week, as Trump scrutinizes the Ivy League school over anti-Semitic protests on campus.
“As co-chair of the Board of Trustees, I will work to preserve and promote the greatness and values of our University and will be committed to the welfare and safety of all our students,” said Johnson, a Columbia Law graduate who led the Department of Homeland Security during former president Barack Obama’s second term.
Johnson’s new role comes as Columbia grapples with public backlash and a significant loss of federal funding over its repeated failure to protect Jewish students and rein in anti-Semitic protests on campus. The Trump administration, which has pledged to cut funding from universities that fail to curb anti-Semitism, has stripped more than $430 million in federal funds from the Ivy League school.
Columbia may face criticism for tapping Johnson. In October 2016, while still serving as DHS secretary, he delivered a speech at the annual convention of the Islamic Society of North America, an organization that federal prosecutors in a 2007 terrorism finance investigation labeled an “unindicted co-conspirator” of Hamas. Last year’s speakers included one imam convicted in Israel of serving in terrorist groups and another who has praised Adolf Hitler, the Washington Free Beacon reported.
The 2016 speech was not the first time Johnson spoke to an Islamic organization with ties to terrorists. One year earlier, he held a press conference at a mosque that federal agents had reportedly raided years earlier as part of an investigation into the Muslim Brotherhood.
Johnson also has a history of criticizing Trump, praising the “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) policies that the president has described as “illegal and immoral discrimination programs” and blasting Trump’s immigration policies as “un-American.”
While his term as co-chair officially began on April 25, Johnson will remain a partner at law firm Paul Weiss until June 30, the Columbia Daily Spectator reported. The law firm is one of several to strike a deal with the Trump administration on DEI, pledging to eliminate those policies and commit $40 million in pro bono legal services to support causes such as combating anti-Semitism.
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