Hawley blasts 'insane' liberal attorney during Senate hearing on campus antisemitism

In response, before Hawley cut him off, Stern said he'd "been very clear that OCR has a very important role, that there are complaints that should go through the process." 

"No," Stern said.

"That's what you said, six days ago," Hawley interjected.

"I am not opposed to doing it the right way," Stern said.

Hawley further pressed Stern about the Trump administration's investigation into the failure to protect Jewish students, pointing out that Stern had previously claimed such an investigation would be "weaponizing antisemitism" and make students less safe.

Stern responded by agreeing that it was indeed weaponizing antisemitism when the Department of Justice had "a list of places they want to go to."

Stern pointed to Massachusetts Democrat Sen. Edward Markey's earlier statements in the hearing in which he said "the answer to antisemitism will never be authoritarianism. We cannot guarantee freedom if we let Trump march in and steal freedom."

Hawley responded that he had heard Markey's comments and called them "insane."

"I heard his whole speech. I thought it was insane," Hawley said. "I just want to say, for the record, I thought it was totally insane. And I think your positions are similarly insane. I think the idea that we would bend over backwards to hug and kiss and make nice to a pro-Hamas rioter, because that's what Khalil is, and that we would say, 'Heavens, we have, we can't remove him.' And that makes Jewish students less safe on our campuses? That's nuts."

Specifically, he purportedly failed to disclose his role as a "political affairs officer" with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees between June and November 2023, as well as his extended tenure with the Syria Office at the British Embassy in Beirut beyond 2022. As such, the administration has initiated proceedings to revoke Khalil's visa.

Concurrently, the administration pulled $400 million in federal funding from Columbia University over its handling of anti-Israel campus riots last year. The Ivy League university announced major changes on Friday to align its student policies with Trump's demands.