Judge overturns Trump administration funding cuts to Harvard

A US federal court has overturned deep funding cuts by President Donald Trumps administration to Harvard University.

Judge Allison Burroughs ruled the government violated the Ivy League colleges free speech rights when it revoked around $2bn (£1.5bn) in research funding.

The ruling is a major legal victory for Harvard, but is likely to be appealed. The Trump administration has accused the school of anti-Semitism, "radical left" ideologies and racial bias when it froze the funding in April.

Three other Ivy League colleges, including Columbia University, struck deals with Trump to preserve federal research money that was in jeopardy due to similar claims by the administration.

Boston-based Judge Burroughs wrote in Wednesdays ruling: "The Court vacates and sets aside the Freeze Orders and Termination Letters as violative of the First Amendment."

The judge wrote in her 84-page decision that Harvard should have done more to deal with antisemitism, which she said had "plagued" the institution in recent years.

But she found that there was "little connection" between the research affected by the funding cuts at the school and the claims of antisemitism.

She suggested the government had "used antisemitism as a smokescreen for a targeted, ideologically-motivated assault on this countrys premier universities".

Judge Burroughs, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, has previously blocked Trumps efforts to prevent Harvard from hosting international students.