Ep. 239: Columbia University, Mahmoud Khalil, DEI, law firms, and more

So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast

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

Read the transcript.

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)