{"id":2193745,"date":"2024-03-06T05:03:02","date_gmt":"2024-03-06T10:03:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/times-up-for-columbia-disgraced-democratic-attorney-roberta-kaplan-reps-ivy-league-school-in-anti-semitism-suit-after-stepping-down-from-womens-rights-org\/"},"modified":"2024-03-06T05:04:19","modified_gmt":"2024-03-06T10:04:19","slug":"times-up-for-columbia-disgraced-democratic-attorney-roberta-kaplan-reps-ivy-league-school-in-anti-semitism-suit-after-stepping-down-from-womens-rights-org","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/times-up-for-columbia-disgraced-democratic-attorney-roberta-kaplan-reps-ivy-league-school-in-anti-semitism-suit-after-stepping-down-from-womens-rights-org\/","title":{"rendered":"Columbia&#8217;s Time&#8217;s Up: Disgraced Dem Attorney Kaplan Now Represents Ivy League School in Anti-Semitism Case"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftimes-up-for-columbia-disgraced-democratic-attorney-roberta-kaplan-reps-ivy-league-school-in-anti-semitism-suit-after-stepping-down-from-womens-rights-org%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2193745&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>The Democratic Superlawyer Defending Columbia University Against Anti-Semitism Lawsuit<\/h2>\n<p>The Democratic \u200dsuperlawyer who resigned in disgrace from \u2062the #MeToo organization Time&#8217;s Up after helping former New York governor Andrew Cuomo\u2063 (D.)\u2064 discredit his accusers is now defending \u2063Columbia University\u200d against a lawsuit alleging that it fosters a pervasive culture\u200c of anti-Semitism.<\/p>\n<p>Roberta Kaplan filed notice last month\u2063 to represent Columbia and its\u200c sister college, Barnard, against\u200c lawsuits\u2062 that accuse school \u200cleaders of enabling an &#8220;antisemitic\u200b hostile educational environment&#8221;\u200b in the wake of \u2063Hamas&#8217;s terrorist attack on Israel.<\/p>\n<p>Students Against Antisemitism and a group\u200b of \u200cfive\u200d Columbia\u2064 students allege that school leaders\u200c have turned a\u2063 blind eye \u2063as anti-Semitic activists have\u2064 physically assaulted, &#8220;spat at,&#8221; and threatened Jewish and Israeli students. \u200bColumbia student \u2063Mackenzie Forrest sued the school \u2062and \u2063its president, \u200dalleging she was forced out of\u200d the Columbia \u2063School of Social Work &#8220;simply because \u2062she is\u200d Jewish.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit\u200d pits \u200dKaplan, \u2064a \u2062longtime\u2062 Democratic Party operative who has portrayed herself as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/outrage-as-immigrants-get-housing-priority-over-bostons-longstanding-homeless-camp\/\" title=\"Anger rises as immigrants receive housing priority over Boston's homeless camp.\">civil rights\u200c activist<\/a>, against\u2064 Jewish students on\u200b campus who say their civil rights have been violated.<\/p>\n<p>Kaplan <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/democrats\/times-up-founder-resigns-in-wake-of-cuomo-scandal\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">resigned<\/a> from Time&#8217;s Up\u2062 in \u200cAugust 2021 after the New York attorney general&#8217;s office\u2063 revealed that\u2062 she advised Cuomo on \u2064an op-ed that \u200dsmeared a former \u200bemployee, Lindsey Boylan, who accused Cuomo of sexual harassment. Time&#8217;s Up staff\u2063 members accused Kaplan and her cofounder, longtime Democratic\u200b operative Tina Tchen, \u200dof &#8220;failing&#8221; sexual abuse survivors.<\/p>\n<p>Kaplan also represented Cuomo aide Melissa DeRosa during the New York attorney general&#8217;s probe into \u200cCuomo&#8217;s behavior. Investigators identified DeRosa \u200cas a mastermind behind the effort to smear Cuomo&#8217;s \u2064accusers.<\/p>\n<p>Democrats consider Kaplan a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/5-washed-up-leftists-who-found-homes-in-academia\/\" title=\"5 Washed Up Leftists Who Found Homes In Academia\">civil rights icon<\/a> for her work on the Supreme Court case \u2064to legalize gay marriage. She\u2062 also represented\u2063 writer\u200c E. Jean Carroll \u200cin an $83 million defamation lawsuit against former\u2064 president Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<p>Kaplan, who \u2064touts a &#8220;social action&#8221; award from \u2064the National Council of\u200b Jewish Women, has not issued a formal response to Jewish students suing Columbia. In\u200b a Feb. 23 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/68269813\/17\/students-against-antisemitism-inc-v-the-trustees-of-columbia-university\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">filing<\/a>, she referred\u200c to the &#8220;allegedly antisemitic \u2063conduct&#8221; at Columbia and requested that both lawsuits be transferred \u2063to \u2062the docket of \u2062District Court judge Paul Oetken. Two attorneys at Kaplan&#8217;s firm\u2064 have clerked for Oetken, an Obama appointee.<\/p>\n<p>The \u2062lawsuits lay out several examples of anti-Israel groups and \u200dfaculty members praising\u2063 Hamas&#8217;s attack on \u2064the Jewish \u2064state.<\/p>\n<p>According to the lawsuit filed by Students Against Antisemitism, Columbia law professor Katherine Franke\u200d has called \u2063on the school \u2062to ban Israeli students and bragged\u200c in \u2063November 2023 that \u2062she helped shut down a New York City tunnel to protest &#8220;genocide in Gaza.&#8221; After \u2062Hamas invaded Israel on Oct. 7, Franke penned an open letter that called the terrorist attack &#8220;a\u200d military response by a\u2063 people \u2063who had\u200c endured crushing and unrelenting state violence \u2063from an \u200doccupying power over \u2062many years,&#8221; the \u2064 <em>Washington Free Beacon<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/campus\/columbia-professor-behind-pro-hamas-letter-served-as-academic-mentor-at-palestinian-university-that-holds-hamas-rallies\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit cites the pro-Hamas and \u2063anti-Semitic rhetoric of Joseph Massad, a professor of\u2063 Arab politics. Massad <a href=\"https:\/\/electronicintifada.net\/content\/just-another-battle-or-palestinian-war-liberation\/38661\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">hailed<\/a> the Hamas attacks as &#8220;awesome&#8221; and touted Hamas&#8217;s use of motorized paragliders as a feat of &#8220;innovative Palestinian resistance.&#8221; He allegedly asked a Columbia\u2064 student who served in the \u2062Israel Defense Forces &#8220;how many Palestinians that student had killed.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Columbia&#8217;s inaction\u2063 toward Massad has stoked blowback at the school. \u2063Billionaire \u200dinvestor Leon \u200dCooperman <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/campus\/beastmode-columbia-donor-slams-sh-t-for-brains-students-who-protest-for-hamas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">vowed<\/a> \u2063 last year to cut off \u200bdonations to the school \u2062over its failure to fire Massad.<\/p>\n<p>Columbia and Kaplan&#8217;s law firm did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n<h3>Published under:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/tag\/metoo\/\" title=\"View all posts in #MeToo\">  #MeToo<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/tag\/andrew-cuomo\/\" title=\"View all posts in Andrew Cuomo\">  Andrew Cuomo<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/tag\/anti-semitism\/\" title=\"View all posts in Anti-Semitism\">  \u2063Anti-Semitism<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/tag\/civil-rights-act\/\" title=\"View all posts in Civil Rights Act\">  Civil Rights\u200c Act<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/tag\/columbia-university\/\" title=\"View all posts in Columbia University\">  Columbia University<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/tag\/democratic-party\/\" title=\"View all posts in Democratic Party\">  Democratic Party<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/tag\/hamas\/\" title=\"View all posts in Hamas\">  Hamas<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/tag\/israel\/\" title=\"View all posts in Israel\">  Israel<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/tag\/jewish-community\/\" title=\"View all posts in Jewish Community\">  Jewish Community<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/tag\/lawsuit\/\" title=\"View all posts in Lawsuit\">  Lawsuit<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/tag\/terror-attack\/\" title=\"View all posts in Terror Attack\">  Terror Attack<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/tag\/times-up\/\" title=\"View all posts in Time's Up\">  Time&#8217;s Up<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> \u2063 How might Kaplan&#8217;s role in representing the\u2064 university against allegations \u200cof \u200cfostering an anti-Semitic culture impact her reputation \u200das a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/robert-e-lee-statue-removed-from-us-capitol-video\/\" title=\"Robert E. Lee Statue Removed From US Capitol (VIDEO)\">civil rights activist<\/a><\/h2>\n<p><span>  \u200dTudent, who\u2063 had expressed support for Israel, if he would like to &#8220;see how it feels to be\u2062 bombed.&#8221; The lawsuit argues that these \u2062statements, along with others made\u200b by faculty and student groups, contribute\u200c to a \u200chostile environment for Jewish and Israeli students at Columbia University.<\/p>\n<p>In response to the lawsuit, Roberta Kaplan,\u2064 known for her advocacy work on \u200dcivil rights issues, \u2063has\u200b stepped\u2063 in to defend\u2062 Columbia University. \u200dKaplan&#8217;s involvement\u200c in \u2062the case may be seen as \u200ccontroversial,\u2064 considering\u200d her recent resignation from the #MeToo \u200borganization Time&#8217;s Up after her involvement in \u200chelping former Governor Andrew \u2063Cuomo discredit his accusers \u2063came to light.<\/p>\n<p>Kaplan&#8217;s resignation\u2064 from \u2064Time&#8217;s Up was prompted by the revelation that she had advised Cuomo on an op-ed that smeared Lindsey Boylan, \u200ca former employee who\u200d accused Cuomo of sexual harassment. Members of Time&#8217;s Up staff accused Kaplan and her co-founder, Tina Tchen, of failing sexual abuse survivors. Kaplan also \u2063represented Melissa DeRosa, a Cuomo aide,\u200b during the\u200c New York attorney general&#8217;s probe into \u200bCuomo&#8217;s behavior, where DeRosa\u200b was identified as a mastermind behind the effort to smear Cuomo&#8217;s\u2064 accusers.<\/p>\n<p>Despite \u2064the controversy surrounding\u2064 Kaplan, she has been widely revered within \u2062Democratic circles for her work on the Supreme Court case to legalize gay marriage \u2062and her representation of writer E. Jean Carroll in a defamation \u2062lawsuit\u2062 against former President \u2062Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<p>Kaplan has yet to issue a formal response to the lawsuits filed against Columbia University by Jewish students, which allege a failure by school leaders to address\u200c and prevent anti-Semitic incidents on \u200dcampus. In a filing \u200blast month, \u200dKaplan referred to the &#8220;allegedly antisemitic conduct&#8221; at Columbia \u2063and requested that \u2063both lawsuits be\u200d transferred to District\u200b Court judge\u200c Paul Oetken, whom two attorneys at Kaplan&#8217;s\u200c firm have clerked for.<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuits \u2062cite \u2062several examples of anti-Israel groups and faculty \u2063members at \u2064Columbia University who have praised Hamas&#8217;s attack on Israel and made anti-Semitic remarks. For instance, \u2064the lawsuit highlights statements \u2063made by Columbia law \u200cprofessor Katherine Franke, who called for \u2063the school\u2064 to ban Israeli students and boasted about her role in shutting down a\u200b New York City tunnel to protest &#8220;genocide in Gaza.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Another faculty\u2063 member mentioned in the lawsuit \u200bis \u2062Joseph Massad, \u2064a professor of Arab\u2063 politics, who\u2063 allegedly praised the Hamas attacks as \u2064&#8221;awesome&#8221; and\u2062 celebrated their use of motorized paragliders\u200d as an innovative form of\u200b resistance. Massad\u2062 reportedly\u2063 confronted\u2063 a\u2064 student\u2064 who\u2064 expressed support \u2062for Israel, asking if he would like to experience being bombed.<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuits argue that\u2064 the\u2064 rhetoric and actions of these individuals contribute to a hostile educational environment for Jewish \u200band Israeli students at \u200cColumbia University. Kaplan&#8217;s role in \u2062defending \u200cthe university against these allegations\u200b raises questions about the alignment \u200cof her values\u200d as a civil rights activist \u2064and\u2064 her representation of \u200ca university accused of \u200bfostering an anti-Semitic culture.<\/p>\n<p>As\u2062 the case unfolds, it remains to be seen\u2063 how Kaplan and her defense \u200cteam will respond to\u2064 the allegations made by Jewish\u200c students at Columbia University and whether their claims will\u200d be addressed and rectified. The lawsuit serves as a stark reminder of the ongoing struggle to combat anti-Semitism and protect the civil rights of all individuals on \u200bcollege campuses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Roberta Kaplan, the Democratic superlawyer, notorious for her resignation from Time&#8217;s Up amid scandal, is now defending Columbia University against an anti-Semitism lawsuit. Kaplan, who previously aided Andrew Cuomo in discrediting his accusers, filed notice last month to represent Columbia and its sister college<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":155,"featured_media":2193746,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/fortune-most-powerful-women-summit-2018-day-2-scaled.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[544],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2193745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-free-beacon"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/fortune-most-powerful-women-summit-2018-day-2-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2193745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/155"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2193745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2193745\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2193746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2193745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2193745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2193745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}