A student from Harvard University who revealed that the esteemed law journal at the university was possibly hiring individuals based on race reportedly faced retaliation for initiating a federal investigation, as per a report.
Daniel Wasserman received a “formal reprimand” documented in his law review records and was instructed to discard the damaging Harvard Law Review documents he had given to the media, as reported by the Washington Free Beacon.
The student-led Law Review asked any parties who received the confidential materials to “delete or return them to The Review,” according to an email from May acquired by the outlet.
Two days later, Wasserman was told he was being given a formal reprimand — despite federal law protections for whistleblowers.
“This Formal Reprimand informs you that your actions violate Law Review policies and do not reflect our community expectations,” the journal’s disciplinary committee wrote on May 22.
“Continued violations may give rise to additional disciplinary proceedings.”
The reprimand was retracted five days later after the Justice Department stepped in and accused the law review of witness intimidation.
The Law Review claimed it had not known Wasserman was working with the government — though a May 12 letter from the government named him, then serving as an editor, as a “cooperating witness” in its investigation.
The journal then claimed it had only instructed Wasserman to destroy copies of the files he allegedly disseminated, not the originals on the school servers, the emails state.
Wasserman had downloaded and shared thousands of documents with the Free Beacon that allegedly exposed how the revered Law Review discriminated against white men, instead prioritizing race-based quotas over academic merit, when it came to hiring editors and publishing articles.
In a 2024 memo reviewed by the Free Beacon, Law Review editors appeared to favor a “woman of color” author when it came to considering her story for publication, saying that that counted toward meeting “our priorities.”
The Trump administration launched an investigation into the claims in April, but did not mention to the Ivy League journal that Wasserman would soon be taking a job with the White House.
Wasserman is now working under Stephen Miller, who has been spearheading the administration’s mass deportation efforts, the New York Times reported.
The White House told the Times Wasserman was offered the job on April 25 — the same day the Free Beacon’s initial story came out about the Law Review’s alleged discrimination. His first day of work was May 22.
When reached Saturday, Wasserman referred requests for comment to the White House, which did not immediately respond.
A spokesperson for the White House previously declined to share details of Wasserman’s hiring, but lauded his bravery in a statement to The Times.
“Harvard is violating federal law with its discrimination, and a student was brave enough to call them out on this,” the statement read. “Because of his actions, the Justice Department is investigating clear violations of the law.”
The Law Review also did not respond to The Post’s request for comment, but the journal’s president last week published a fact sheet stating that its leaders “categorically deny” allegations of race-based discrimination — and claimed news reports “mischaracterized” the journal’s procedures.
Harvard University had previously emphasized to The Post that the journal was independent from the Ivy League, but that the school is “committed to ensuring that the programs and activities it oversees are in compliance with all applicable laws and to investigating any credibly alleged violations.”
