Trump Isn't The Only Swampy DC Crook On The Wrong Side Of The Law-- Remember Betsy DeVos?

Adam Minsky, reporting for Forbes wrote this week that "A federal judge has tacitly threatened Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos with jail for her ongoing failure (or refusal) to comply with court orders in a student loan case. By way of background, in 2016 the Obama administration finalized rules for the Borrower Defense to Repayment program. This program was created to allow federal student loan borrowers to request loan forgiveness on the basis that their school engaged in unfair, deceptive, or illegal practices. When DeVos took over the U.S. Department of Education in 2017, she stopped processing Borrower Defense applications, and ordered the department to rewrite the rules governing the program, effectively gutting it." Welcome to Trump World.

Consumer advocates filed suit against her and the Department, and they won. As part of the 2018 court ruling on the collapse of for-profit college chain Corinthian Colleges, the federal judge ordered DeVos and the Department of Education to cease all collections activities on federal student loans used to attend Corinthian schools, given that they would likely be eligible for discharge under Borrower Defense to Repayment.

DeVos ignored the ruling, and the Department of Education continued to pursue defaulted former Corinthian students. The Department continued to garnish people's wages and intercept their federal tax refunds, depriving them of critical sources of income in direct violation of the 2018 court order.

This year, consumer advocates took DeVos back to court for the violations. The federal judge was not happy, saying she was "astounded" at the Department's ongoing violations of her very clear court order. "At best it is gross negligence, at worst it’s an intentional flouting of my order," said U.S. Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim. “I’m not sending anyone to jail yet, but it’s good to know I have that ability," she said.

An attorney for the Department of Education told Judge Kim that they would comply with the original court order. In the meantime, the Department has finalized a second rewrite of the Borrower Defense to Repayment rules, which would-- again-- significantly weaken the program.

The Trumpist Regime has accused Congress of not doing the peoples' business and only concentrating on impeachment. That's just a baseless talking point. Two of the most ardent impeachment advocates, congressmen Andy Levin (D-MI) and Jamie Raskin (D-MD) have been hard at work holding Trump's Department of Education accountable. Levin is the vice chair of the House Education and Labor Committee, and Raskin is the chair of the House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. Monday they sent a letter to DeVos letting her know that her department’s efforts to censor viewpoints that are critical of its work are being noted by Congress. Earlier this year the House passed legislation that included a provision authored by Congressman Levin to allocate $4 million to the Department of Education watchdog office that conducts nonpartisan oversight and investigations of the agency. This is the letter they sent DeVos. If you like it please let Levin and Raskin know by sending each a token of your appreciation by clicking here.

Dear Secretary DeVos:

We write to express our serious concerns regarding actions you have taken to restrict the free expression of ideas at the Department of Education and in institutions of higher education across the country. We detail below the specific troubling actions that have prompted this request. Additionally, we respectfully request certain documents, described below, so that we may undertake necessary oversight of the Department’s activities.

Censorship of Critical Viewpoints on the Department’s Internal Network

We are concerned about your efforts to censor viewpoints that are critical of the Department’s policies. News reports earlier this year revealed that the Department had blocked from its internal network the website of Public Citizen, a non-profit advocacy organization that has opposed many of your policies. It has challenged the Department’s improper administration of the TEACH Grant program, criticized your failure to protect student borrowers’ rights, and brought litigation to stop regulatory rollbacks that benefit predatory schools.

After Public Citizen challenged your policies, you blocked Department of Education employees from accessing the Public Citizen website-- and, by extension, its ideas-- on the Department’s internal network. Although the Department has now restored access to this website, it only did so in the face of a lawsuit. We are concerned that the Department may be blocking other websites on its internal network.

Threatening Public Institutions

On March 20, 2019, President Trump issued Executive Order 13864 (EO 13864), which purportedly seeks to promote “free inquiry” on college and university campuses by threatening to withhold certain federal funds. However, it is clear from his remarks at the signing ceremony (alleging that schools prevent conservative students from challenging “rigid, far-left ideology”) and tweets containing explicit threats against schools like University of California Berkeley, that the President views EO 13864 not as an instrument of free speech but as a tool to punish institutions with whom he disagrees.

Of course, problems of free speech on college campuses are complex and require creative solutions, and bigoted, far-right speakers have repeatedly tested the free speech policies of Berkeley and other universities. However, the President’s Executive Order does not even attempt to offer a thoughtful solution to the complex civil and constitutional challenges that institutions of higher education face. On the contrary, his threats against institutions that he perceives as political opponents undermine First Amendment values. Additionally, his selective application of the Executive Order to institutions he regards as political enemies suggests that his political allies are free to violate constitutional norms, so long as they do so in defense of the President.

Ignoring Political Allies Who Censor Students

You stated that “we are inundated daily with stories of administrators and faculty manipulating the marketplaces of ideas.” Unfortunately, despite Executive Order 13864, which directs the Department to ensure institutions promote free inquiry, you have failed to act in cases of suppression of ideas that involve the administration’s political allies, such as Liberty University.

For example, when Liberty University’s student code of conduct was leaked, detailing extreme restrictions on student free speech and association rights, the Department of Education did not act. Liberty reportedly bans LGBTQ relationships and places content restrictions on media students can view. Additionally, Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University and advisor to President Trump, personally censors students. In one case, he blocked a student-written column, criticizing then-candidate Trump for boasting of sexually assaulting women, from being published in a student-run newspaper.

Mr. Falwell’s censorship and Liberty’s code of conduct facially violate existing Title IX guidance and President Trump’s executive order. Given that Liberty’s violations are public and longstanding, we are left to conclude that the Department’s failure to act is deliberate and that it is only interested in enforcing free speech policies against institutions it deems unfriendly.

Request for Information

We are extremely concerned by this administration’s efforts to intimidate world-renowned institutions and chill the free expression of ideas under the guise of upholding the First Amendment. In order to conduct the appropriate oversight of the Department’s activities, we respectfully request the following information no later than October 21, 2019:

1- All Office of General Counsel memoranda regarding the Department’s policies and/or authority to limit or block access to websites on its internal agency network;

2- A list of every website that the Department has limited or blocked access to on its internal network at any point, for any length of time, since January 20, 2017;

3- All Office of General Counsel memoranda related to the Department’s authority to investigate any and all violations of the First Amendment or Executive Order 13864;

4- Documentation sufficient to show the Department’s process for evaluating and investigating claims of violations of the First Amendment or Executive Order 13864;

5- Documentation sufficient to show the conclusions of any investigations into institutions of higher education due to First Amendment violations or violations of Executive Order 13864; and

6- A list of any and all investigations into claims of violations of the First Amendment or Executive Order 13864 that have been initiated but not yet completed.

Yesterday, Michigan state Rep. Jon Hoadley-- who tangled with DeVos, much to her detriment, before Trump recruited her-- sent out an e-mail to his supporters reminding them that she's "an embarrassment to the state of Michigan and to this country. DeVos needs to resign, immediately. Our campaign is seeking petition signers, to demand that DeVos be removed from her position. Because our campaign believes that victims of fraud shouldn’t pay for the assailant’s crimes. More than 160,000 students were conned into taking on large loans from Corinthian University-- a for-profit school that filed for bankruptcy after a federal investigation found widespread fraud and deception. These students should have had their debt canceled as part of a federal loan relief program for students defrauded by predatory schools like Corinthian University. But DeVos and her Department of Education were relentlessly shaking down students, forcing them to sue the department for relief. Predatory debt collection is disgusting. And a federal judge agreed, ordering DeVos to grant loan forgiveness. But what did DeVos do? She simply ignored the order and kept on collecting. The judge is livid. And rightfully so. This is just the latest in a long line of atrocious decisions from DeVos, ones that put students last and her own special interests first. This time, she has gone too far. The judge presiding over the case said, 'At best, it is gross negligence. At worst, it’s intentional flouting of my order.' adding, 'There have to be consequences for violation of my order sixteen thousand times.'" Jon is a candidate for Congress now and has been endorsed by Blue America. If you'd like to, you can contribute to his campaign to his campaign by clicking on the 2020 congressional thermometer below.

You can also contribute to the campaign of Flagstaff, Arizona progressive Eva Putzova at the same thermometer. Eva needs no reminding about who DeVos is and what damage she's causing. "The Trump-DeVos regime's efforts to punish educational institutions which allow speech critical of the President by threatening to withdraw federal funds is not surprising," she told us earlier. "I support a broad definition of free speech inside and outside of the classroom, whether that speech supports the President or not! We live in a democracy, not a dictatorship."

Chicago progressive candidate Robert Emmons told us that "Predatory operations like Trump 'University' and Corinthian 'College' have been preying on our nation’s young people for far too long. They put profit over progress. Safety nets like the federal Borrow Defense to Repayment program are the only protection that the victims of predatory institutions have against greed. In our country it is already expensive to be poor. DeVos and the Trump administration are making this reality even more clear. Young people, seeking a credited education, deserve to do so without fear of being bamboozled for profit. DeVos, neither you, your minions, or your twisted boss deserve to lead our path towards building strong educational institutions. Do right by our students or you will pay the price either by force through the legal system, or by failing our country once again."

Brianna Wu is the progressive candidate running for the Boston area seat occupied by reactionary New Dem Stephen Lynch. "School," she wrote this morning, "is not just about what you learn in books. It’s about the people you meet, and the different life experiences you are exposed to. To me, what is so dangerous about DeVos is she doesn’t seem to value the potential public schools have to bind communities together. DeVos’s vision for American education is clear. Privatize everything in sight, funnel public tax dollars to corporations, and remove protections that allow disadvantaged students to get an education. It’s appalling, and it’s fundamentally un-American."