Justice Department Sues Harvard to Force Release of Admissions Records in Civil Rights Probe

The Lawsuit

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a civil lawsuit against Harvard University on Feb. 13, 2026, seeking to compel the school to turn over admissions records, donor communications, and other documents as part of a Title VI compliance investigation, according to a Justice Department official with knowledge of the filing. The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, alleges that Harvard failed to fully comply with document requests tied to federal funding conditions and asks a judge to order production of the materials within 30 days.

Two Harvard officials familiar with the dispute said the university's legal team received the complaint shortly before noon on Feb. 13 and planned to file a public response by the close of business the following week. The officials said Harvard maintains it has cooperated in good faith and views the lawsuit as retaliation for the university's refusal to accept a sweeping settlement demand from the Trump administration earlier in the month. The Justice Department official said the suit is separate from ongoing negotiations over a potential fine and is focused on whether Harvard's admissions and fundraising practices comply with federal civil rights laws.

A plaintiff's attorney representing students who have filed related Title VI complaints against Harvard said the lawsuit is the first time the administration has used a federal court complaint, rather than an administrative subpoena, to seek admissions data from a selective university since the Supreme Court's 2023 decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard. The attorney said the complaint references race-conscious recruitment programs, legacy and donor preferences, and the university's handling of foreign gifts and contracts reportable under Section 117 of the Higher Education Act.

Background and Pressure

The suit follows a Feb. 3, 2026, late-night post by President Trump on Truth Social in which he reversed course on a proposed $200 million settlement and instead demanded $1 billion in damages, threatened a criminal investigation, and warned that the dispute should be treated as a criminal matter, according to two university officials briefed on the talks. Harvard had rejected an earlier administration ultimatum that included demands to overhaul admissions, hiring, and campus discipline policies. The Feb. 13 filing is the latest escalation in a confrontation that began in April 2025, when the administration froze roughly $2.2 billion in multiyear research grants after Harvard refused to accept similar conditions.

Harvard sued the administration on April 21, 2025, arguing that the funding freeze violated the First Amendment and the Administrative Procedure Act. U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs ruled in Harvard's favor on Sept. 3, 2025, restoring the grants and finding the administration had used antisemitism as a smokescreen for ideological retaliation. The government has appealed that ruling to the First Circuit while pursuing the new admissions-data lawsuit.

The Justice Department official said the new complaint focuses in part on whether Harvard has accurately disclosed foreign gifts and contracts as required by Section 117, which mandates that colleges receiving federal assistance report foreign-source gifts and contracts worth $250,000 or more annually. On Feb. 11, 2026, the Department of Education released data showing that, covering the period from 1986 through Dec. 16, 2025, Harvard disclosed more than $610 million in reportable foreign gifts and contracts, placing it among the top five American universities in cumulative foreign funding. Qatar, the United Kingdom, China, Switzerland, Japan, Germany, and Saudi Arabia were listed as the largest foreign sources in the 2025 disclosures.

A student involved in the case said campus activists and faculty members have been bracing for additional federal action since the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit vacated a nationwide injunction against President Trump's anti-DEI executive orders on Feb. 6, 2026. The student, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of pending litigation, said the lawsuit appears designed to pressure Harvard into producing internal admissions data that the administration could use to support broader claims that elite universities have engaged in race-conscious practices despite the Supreme Court's 2023 ruling. The student added that several student organizations are planning a rally in Harvard Yard on Feb. 15.

What to Watch

Harvard's initial response will likely include a motion to dismiss or a request to narrow the scope of the document demands, according to the plaintiff's attorney. The attorney said the university may argue that the requested donor communications and admissions files are protected by academic freedom and the First Amendment, setting up a legal clash that could reach the First Circuit within months. The Justice Department official said the administration is prepared to file similar enforcement actions against other universities that do not comply with document requests in civil rights investigations.

The next key date is March 13, 2026, when the administration's 30-day production deadline would expire if the court grants the requested order. Harvard officials said the university's board is scheduled to meet on Feb. 19 to discuss the litigation strategy and potential settlement posture. Congressional Democrats are expected to hold a press conference by Feb. 18 criticizing the suit as an abuse of federal power, while Republican lawmakers on the House Education and Workforce Committee are likely to praise it as overdue accountability.

Watch for any parallel Education Department action on foreign funding compliance and for whether other selective universities begin voluntarily producing admissions data to avoid becoming the next target. The plaintiff's attorney said Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of California system are already under similar Title VI scrutiny and could face complaints if they resist document requests. A second student involved in the Harvard matter said the outcome could determine whether the administration can use federal funding conditions to force sweeping changes at elite private universities, changes that Congress has not enacted by statute.